Cloud queue access control

ABSTRACT

An example implementation may involve a computing system receiving, from a media playback system, a request to initiate playback of a cloud queue. The cloud queue may currently have a first access status that authorizes a first set of queue operations, which may include playback of the cloud queue. After receiving the request to initiate playback, the computing system may cause audio tracks of the cloud queue to be queued in a local queue of the media playback system such that the media playback system may playback audio tracks of the cloud queue via the local queue. The computing system may modify the access status of the cloud queue to a second access status. This second access status may authorize a second set of queue operations on the cloud queue. The computing system may cause access to the local queue to be restricted to the second set of queue operations.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, and is acontinuation of, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/143,284, filed Sep.26, 2018, entitled “Cloud Queue Access Control,” issued as U.S. Pat. No.10,666,634 on May 26, 2020, which is incorporated herein in itsentirety.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/143,284 claims priority under 35U.S.C. § 120 to, and is a continuation of, U.S. patent application Ser.No. 15/477,912, filed Apr. 3, 2017, entitled “Cloud Queue AccessControl,” issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,158,619 on Dec. 18, 2018, which isincorporated herein in its entirety.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/477,912 claims priority under 35U.S.C. § 120 to, and is a continuation of, U.S. patent application Ser.No. 15/099,846, filed Apr. 15, 2016, entitled “Cloud Queue AccessControl,” issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,648,070 on May 9, 2017, which isincorporated herein in its entirety.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/099,846 claims priority under 35U.S.C. § 120 to, and is a continuation of, U.S. patent application Ser.No. 14/616,325, filed Feb. 6, 2015, entitled “Cloud Queue AccessControl,” issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,363,254 on Jun. 7, 2016, which isincorporated herein in its entirety.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/616,325 claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/007,906, filed Jun. 4, 2014,entitled “Cloud Queue,” which is also incorporated herein in itsentirety.

This application is related to the following applications filed on thesame day as U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/616,325, the contents ofeach are incorporated by reference herein: U.S. application Ser. No.14/616,310 filed Feb. 6, 2015, entitled “Cloud Queue Access Control;”U.S. application Ser. No. 14/616,319 filed Feb. 6, 2015, entitled “CloudQueue Access Control;” U.S. application Ser. No. 14/616,332 filed Feb.6, 2015, entitled “Cloud Queue Sync Protocol;” U.S. application Ser. No.14/616,341 filed Feb. 6, 2015, entitled “Cloud Queue Playback Policy;”and U.S. application Ser. No. 14/616,364 filed Feb. 6, 2015, entitled“Cloud Queue Playhead.”

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure is related to consumer goods and, more particularly, tomethods, systems, products, features, services, and other elementsdirected to media playback or some aspect thereof.

BACKGROUND

Options for accessing and listening to digital audio in an out-loudsetting were limited until in 2003, when SONOS, Inc. filed for one ofits first patent applications, entitled “Method for Synchronizing AudioPlayback between Multiple Networked Devices,” and began offering a mediaplayback system for sale in 2005. The Sonos Wireless HiFi System enablespeople to experience music from many sources via one or more networkedplayback devices. Through a software control application installed on asmartphone, tablet, or computer, one can play what he or she wants inany room that has a networked playback device. Additionally, using thecontroller, for example, different songs can be streamed to each roomwith a playback device, rooms can be grouped together for synchronousplayback, or the same song can be heard in all rooms synchronously.

Given the ever growing interest in digital media, there continues to bea need to develop consumer-accessible technologies to further enhancethe listening experience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, aspects, and advantages of the presently disclosed technologymay be better understood with regard to the following description,appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 shows an example media playback system configuration in whichcertain embodiments may be practiced;

FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of an example playback device;

FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of an example control device;

FIG. 4 shows an example controller interface;

FIG. 5 shows an computing system that may practice certain embodiments;

FIG. 6 shows an example cloud computing system in which certainembodiments may be practiced;

FIG. 7 is an example playback queue;

FIG. 8 is an example flow diagram to facilitate accessing a cloud queuebased on an authorization token;

FIG. 9 is an example flow diagram to facilitate controlling access to acloud queue based on an authorization token;

FIG. 10 is an example flow diagram to facilitate providing accesscontrol levels;

FIG. 11 is an example environment in which certain embodiments may bepracticed;

FIG. 12 is an example flow diagram to facilitate accessing a cloud queueaccording to one or more varying levels of access;

FIG. 13 is an example flow diagram to facilitate controlling access to aqueue based on access statuses;

FIG. 14A is a first instance of an example environment in which certainembodiments may be practiced;

FIG. 14B is a second instance of the example environment in whichcertain embodiments may be practiced;

FIG. 15 is an example flow diagram to facilitate access to a queue basedon access statuses; and

FIG. 16 is an example flow diagram to display an indication of an accessstatus of a cloud queue.

The drawings are for the purpose of illustrating example embodiments,but it is understood that the inventions are not limited to thearrangements and instrumentality shown in the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION I. Overview

Embodiments described herein may involve, inter alia, controlling accessto a cloud-based playback queue (“cloud queue”). In some embodiments, acomputing system may maintain or have access to a cloud queue of mediaitems. Such a computing system may assist in providing a cloud service.One aspect of the cloud service may involve providing a media playbacksystem (or multiple media playback systems) access to the cloud queue.Access to the cloud queue may involve a variety of operations withrespect to cloud queue. For instance, access to the queue may involveplayback of the queue by a media playback system (perhaps in synchronywith other media playback systems) or modifications to the queue(perhaps by adding or removing media items or by modifying the orderingof the media items). When access to a cloud queue is controlled, certainentities might be permitted to access the cloud queue, while otherentities might be prohibited.

Some example techniques may involve controlling access to a cloud queuebased on the identity of the entity that is accessing the cloud queue.For instance, controlling access to a given cloud queue may involveauthenticating certain media playback systems to access the cloud queue(and perhaps prohibiting other media playback systems from accessing thecloud queue). Alternatively, certain user accounts (accounts) may beauthenticated to access the cloud queue, perhaps by way of a device thatis associated with the account. For example, an account that isassociated with a given device of a media playback system may access thecloud queue by way of the device. As another example, controlling accessto a given cloud queue may involve authenticating certain a certaindevice (or group of devices) of a media playback system to access thecloud queue.

A mechanism to control access to a cloud queue may include use of one ormore authentication tokens. For instance, an authentication token mayauthenticate the entity bearing the token to access the cloud queue. Ahost of a cloud queue (e.g., a remote computing system) may restrictaccess to entities having a valid authentication token. The entity mightbe a media playback system, a device (or group of devices), or a useraccount, among other examples. In some cases, a given authenticationtoken might authenticate an entity with general access rights. In othercases, an authentication token might authenticate the entity withsession-specific rights that authenticate the entity for the duration ofa given session.

In some examples, a host of a cloud queue may restrict entities to oneof two or more different levels or types of access. For instance, thehost may grant a first type of access to a first entity (e.g., a mediaplayback system) and a second type of access to a second entity (e.g.,another media playback system). In some embodiments, the first type ofaccess and the second type of access may include “read” access and“full” access, respectively. Full access may authenticate an entity toperform a full set of operations with respect to a cloud queue. Suchoperations may include queue playback and queue manipulation, amongother examples. In contrast, read access may authenticate an entity toperform a subset of operations with respect to the cloud queue, such asqueue playback or display of the queue.

Other example techniques may involve controlling access to a cloud queuebased on a configuration or settings of the cloud queue itself. Forinstance, a host of a cloud queue may assign one of two or moredifferent status' to a cloud queue. In one example, a cloud queue may beinitially assigned a first status. While the cloud queue has the firststatus, the cloud queue may have full availability. At some pointthereafter, the access status of the cloud queue may be modified to asecond access status. While the cloud queue has the second status, thecloud queue may have limited availability. Limited availability mightinvolve no access to the queue by entities or perhaps access that islimited to a subset of operations on the queue. For instance, underlimited access, playback of the queue might be permitted, butmodification of the queue might be restricted. A host may modify theaccess status based on detecting a trigger, such as a passage of athreshold duration of time or perhaps reaching a metric indicating athreshold amount of playback of the cloud queue, among other examples.

As indicated above, example techniques may involve controlling access toa cloud queue based on an authorization token. In one aspect, a methodis provided. The method may involve obtaining an authorization tokencorresponding to a particular queue of media items at a remote server.The method may also involve sending (i) the obtained authorizationtoken, and (ii) a request for access to one or more media items of theparticular queue. The method may further involve receiving an indicationthat the media playback system may access the one or more media items.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include obtaining anauthorization token corresponding to a particular queue of media itemsat a remote server. The functions may also include sending (i) theobtained authorization token, and (ii) a request for access to one ormore media items of the particular queue. The functions may furtherinclude receiving an indication that the media playback system mayaccess the one or more media items.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include obtaining anauthorization token corresponding to a particular queue of media itemsat a remote server. The functions may also include sending (i) theobtained authorization token, and (ii) a request for access to one ormore media items of the particular queue. The functions may furtherinclude receiving an indication that the media playback system mayaccess the one or more media items.

In yet another aspect, another method is provided. The method mayinvolve receiving (i) an authorization token associated with aparticular media playback system, and (ii) a request for access by themedia playback system to a queue of media items. The method may alsoinvolve determining the access to the queue that the authorization tokenauthenticates to the media playback system. The method may furtherinvolve providing, the media playback system the access to the mediaitems that the authorization token authenticates to the media playbacksystem.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include receiving (i) anauthorization token associated with a particular media playback system,and (ii) a request for access by the media playback system to a queue ofmedia items. The functions may also include determining the access tothe queue that the authorization token authenticates to the mediaplayback system. The functions may further include providing, the mediaplayback system the access to the media items that the authorizationtoken authenticates to the media playback system.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include receiving (i) anauthorization token associated with a particular media playback system,and (ii) a request for access by the media playback system to a queue ofmedia items. The functions may also include determining the access tothe queue that the authorization token authenticates to the mediaplayback system. The functions may further include providing, the mediaplayback system the access to the media items that the authorizationtoken authenticates to the media playback system.

Also as indicated above, example techniques may involve grantingentities respective types of access. In one aspect, a method isprovided. The method may involve receiving (i) a request from a firstmedia playback system for access to a queue of media items, and (ii) arequest from a second media playback system for access to the queue ofmedia items. The method may also involve granting (i) a first type ofaccess to the first media playback system, and (ii) a second type ofaccess to the second media playback system. The first type of access mayauthorize the first media playback system to perform a first set ofoperations on the queue of media items and a second type of access mayauthorize the second media playback system to perform a second set ofoperations on the queue of media items that is different from the firstset of operations. The method may further involve providing (i) anindication that the first media playback system may access the queue asauthorized by the first type of access, and (ii) an indication that thesecond media playback system may access the queue as authorized by thesecond type of access.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include receiving (i) respectiverequests from a plurality of first media playback systems for respectiveaccess to a queue of media items, and (ii) a request from a second mediaplayback system for access to the queue of media items. The functionsmay also include granting (i) a first type of access to the first mediaplayback systems and (ii) a second type of access to the second mediaplayback system. The first type of access may authorize the first mediaplayback system to perform a first set of operations on the queue ofmedia items and a second type of access may authorize the second mediaplayback system to perform a second set of operations on the queue ofmedia items that is different from the first set of operations. Thefunctions may further include providing (i) the first media playbacksystems access to the queue as authorized by the first type of accessrights, and (ii) the second media playback system access to the queue asauthorized by the second type of access rights.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include receiving (i)respective requests from a plurality of first media playback systems forrespective access to a queue of media items, and (ii) a request from asecond media playback system for access to the queue of media items. Thefunctions may also include granting (i) a first type of access to thefirst media playback systems and (ii) a second type of access to thesecond media playback system. The first type of access may authorize thefirst media playback system to perform a first set of operations on thequeue of media items and a second type of access may authorize thesecond media playback system to perform a second set of operations onthe queue of media items that is different from the first set ofoperations. The functions may further include providing (i) the firstmedia playback systems access to the queue as authorized by the firsttype of access rights, and (ii) the second media playback system accessto the queue as authorized by the second type of access rights.

In yet another aspect, another method is provided. The method mayinvolve sending a request for access to a queue of media items. Themethod may also involve receiving an indication that the media playbacksystem may access the queue as authorized by a first type of access. Thefirst type of access may authorize the first media playback system toperform a first set of operations on the queue of media items and asecond type of access may authorize the second media playback system toperform a second set of operations on the queue of media items that isdifferent from the first set of operations. The method may furtherinvolve receiving an indication of one or more media items of the queue.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include sending a request foraccess to a queue of media items. The functions may also includereceiving an indication that the media playback system may access thequeue as authorized by a first type of access. The first type of accessmay authorize the first media playback system to perform a first set ofoperations on the queue of media items and a second type of access mayauthorize the second media playback system to perform a second set ofoperations on the queue of media items that is different from the firstset of operations. The functions may further include receiving anindication of one or more media items of the queue.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include sending a requestfor access to a queue of media items. The functions may also includereceiving an indication that the media playback system may access thequeue as authorized by a first type of access. The first type of accessmay authorize the first media playback system to perform a first set ofoperations on the queue of media items and a second type of access mayauthorize the second media playback system to perform a second set ofoperations on the queue of media items that is different from the firstset of operations. The functions may further include receiving anindication of one or more media items of the queue.

As further indicated above, example techniques may involve controllingaccess to a cloud queue based on a configuration or settings of thecloud queue itself. In one aspect, a method is provided. The method mayinvolve receiving a request to establish a queue of media items. Themethod may also involve assigning a first access status to the queue.The first access status may indicate that at least one media playbacksystem is authorized to perform a first set of queue operations. Afterassigning the first access status to the queue, the method may involvedetecting a trigger that indicates a change in access status of thequeue. Based on the detected trigger, the method may involve modifyingthe access status of the queue from the first access status to a secondaccess status. The second access status may indicate that the at leastone media playback system is authorized to perform a second set of queueoperations that is different from the first set of queue operations. Themethod may also involve sending an indication of the second accessstatus to a media playback system.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include receiving a request toestablish a queue of media items. The functions may also includeassigning a first access status to the queue. The first access statusmay indicate that at least one media playback system is authorized toperform a first set of queue operations. After assigning the firstaccess status to the queue, the functions may include detecting atrigger that indicates a change in access status of the queue. Thefunctions may include modifying the access status of the queue from thefirst access status to a second access status based on the detectedtrigger. The second access status may indicate that the at least onemedia playback system is authorized to perform a second set of queueoperations that is different from the first set of queue operations. Thefunctions may also include sending an indication of the second accessstatus to a media playback system.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include receiving arequest to establish a queue of media items. The functions may alsoinclude assigning a first access status to the queue. The first accessstatus may indicate that at least one media playback system isauthorized to perform a first set of queue operations. After assigningthe first access status to the queue, the functions may includedetecting a trigger that indicates a change in access status of thequeue. The functions may include modifying the access status of thequeue from the first access status to a second access status based onthe detected trigger. The second access status may indicate that the atleast one media playback system is authorized to perform a second set ofqueue operations that is different from the first set of queueoperations. The functions may also include sending an indication of thesecond access status to a media playback system.

In yet another aspect, another method is provided. The method mayinvolve receiving (i) an indication of a queue of media items, and (ii)an indication that the queue has a first access status. The first accessstatus may indicate that the playback device is authorized to perform afirst set of queue operations. The method may also involve establishinga local instance of the queue. The method may further involve receivingan indication that the queue has been assigned a second access status.The second access status may indicate that the playback device isauthorized to perform a second set of queue operations that is differentfrom the first set of queue operations. The method may involverestricting the local instance of the queue to the second set of queueoperations.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include receiving (i) anindication of a queue of media items, and (ii) an indication that thequeue has a first access status. The first access status may indicatethat the playback device is authorized to perform a first set of queueoperations. The functions may also include establishing a local instanceof the queue. The functions may further include receiving an indicationthat the queue has been assigned a second access status. The secondaccess status may indicate that the playback device is authorized toperform a second set of queue operations that is different from thefirst set of queue operations. The functions may include restricting thelocal instance of the queue to the second set of queue operations.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include receiving (i) anindication of a queue of media items, and (ii) an indication that thequeue has a first access status. The first access status may indicatethat the playback device is authorized to perform a first set of queueoperations. The functions may also include establishing a local instanceof the queue. The functions may further include receiving an indicationthat the queue has been assigned a second access status. The secondaccess status may indicate that the playback device is authorized toperform a second set of queue operations that is different from thefirst set of queue operations. The functions may include restricting thelocal instance of the queue to the second set of queue operations.

In another aspect, a method is provided. The method may involvedisplaying an indication of a queue on a graphical interface. The methodmay further involve receiving an indication of an access status of thequeue. The method may also involve displaying an indication of theaccess status of the queue.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include displaying an indicationof a queue on a graphical interface. The functions may further includereceiving an indication of an access status of the queue. The functionsmay also include displaying an indication of the access status of thequeue.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include displaying anindication of a queue on a graphical interface. The functions mayfurther include receiving an indication of an access status of thequeue. The functions may also include displaying an indication of theaccess status of the queue.

It will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that thisdisclosure includes numerous other embodiments. It will be understood byone of ordinary skill in the art that this disclosure includes numerousother embodiments. While some examples described herein may refer tofunctions performed by given actors such as “users” and/or otherentities, it should be understood that this description is for purposesof explanation only. The claims should not be interpreted to requireaction by any such example actor unless explicitly required by thelanguage of the claims themselves.

II. Example Operating Environment

FIG. 1 illustrates an example configuration of a media playback system100 in which one or more embodiments disclosed herein may be practicedor implemented. The media playback system 100 as shown is associatedwith an example home environment having several rooms and spaces, suchas for example, a master bedroom, an office, a dining room, and a livingroom. As shown in the example of FIG. 1 , the media playback system 100includes playback devices 102-124, control devices 126 and 128, and awired or wireless network router 130.

Further discussions relating to the different components of the examplemedia playback system 100 and how the different components may interactto provide a user with a media experience may be found in the followingsections. While discussions herein may generally refer to the examplemedia playback system 100, technologies described herein are not limitedto applications within, among other things, the home environment asshown in FIG. 1 . For instance, the technologies described herein may beuseful in environments where multi-zone audio may be desired, such as,for example, a commercial setting like a restaurant, mall or airport, avehicle like a sports utility vehicle (SUV), bus or car, a ship or boat,an airplane, and so on.

a. Example Playback Devices

FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of an example playback device200 that may be configured to be one or more of the playback devices102-124 of the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1 . The playback device200 may include a processor 202, software components 204, memory 206,audio processing components 208, audio amplifier(s) 210, speaker(s) 212,and a network interface 214 including wireless interface(s) 216 andwired interface(s) 218. In one case, the playback device 200 may notinclude the speaker(s) 212, but rather a speaker interface forconnecting the playback device 200 to external speakers. In anothercase, the playback device 200 may include neither the speaker(s) 212 northe audio amplifier(s) 210, but rather an audio interface for connectingthe playback device 200 to an external audio amplifier or audio-visualreceiver.

In one example, the processor 202 may be a clock-driven computingcomponent configured to process input data according to instructionsstored in the memory 206. The memory 206 may be a tangiblecomputer-readable medium configured to store instructions executable bythe processor 202. For instance, the memory 206 may be data storage thatcan be loaded with one or more of the software components 204 executableby the processor 202 to achieve certain functions. In one example, thefunctions may involve the playback device 200 retrieving audio data froman audio source or another playback device. In another example, thefunctions may involve the playback device 200 sending audio data toanother device or playback device on a network. In yet another example,the functions may involve pairing of the playback device 200 with one ormore playback devices to create a multi-channel audio environment.

Certain functions may involve the playback device 200 synchronizingplayback of audio content with one or more other playback devices.During synchronous playback, a listener will preferably not be able toperceive time-delay differences between playback of the audio content bythe playback device 200 and the one or more other playback devices. U.S.Pat. No. 8,234,395 entitled, “System and method for synchronizingoperations among a plurality of independently clocked digital dataprocessing devices,” which is hereby incorporated by reference, providesin more detail some examples for audio playback synchronization amongplayback devices.

The memory 206 may further be configured to store data associated withthe playback device 200, such as one or more zones and/or zone groupsthe playback device 200 is a part of, audio sources accessible by theplayback device 200, or a playback queue that the playback device 200(or some other playback device) may be associated with. The data may bestored as one or more state variables that are periodically updated andused to describe the state of the playback device 200. The memory 206may also include the data associated with the state of the other devicesof the media system, and shared from time to time among the devices sothat one or more of the devices have the most recent data associatedwith the system. Other embodiments are also possible.

The audio processing components 208 may include one or moredigital-to-analog converters (DAC), an audio preprocessing component, anaudio enhancement component or a digital signal processor (DSP), and soon. In one embodiment, one or more of the audio processing components208 may be a subcomponent of the processor 202. In one example, audiocontent may be processed and/or intentionally altered by the audioprocessing components 208 to produce audio signals. The produced audiosignals may then be provided to the audio amplifier(s) 210 foramplification and playback through speaker(s) 212. Particularly, theaudio amplifier(s) 210 may include devices configured to amplify audiosignals to a level for driving one or more of the speakers 212. Thespeaker(s) 212 may include an individual transducer (e.g., a “driver”)or a complete speaker system involving an enclosure with one or moredrivers. A particular driver of the speaker(s) 212 may include, forexample, a subwoofer (e.g., for low frequencies), a mid-range driver(e.g., for middle frequencies), and/or a tweeter (e.g., for highfrequencies). In some cases, each transducer in the one or more speakers212 may be driven by an individual corresponding audio amplifier of theaudio amplifier(s) 210. In addition to producing analog signals forplayback by the playback device 200, the audio processing components 208may be configured to process audio content to be sent to one or moreother playback devices for playback.

Audio content to be processed and/or played back by the playback device200 may be received from an external source, such as via an audioline-in input connection (e.g., an auto-detecting 3.5 mm audio line-inconnection) or the network interface 214.

The network interface 214 may be configured to facilitate a data flowbetween the playback device 200 and one or more other devices on a datanetwork. As such, the playback device 200 may be configured to receiveaudio content over the data network from one or more other playbackdevices in communication with the playback device 200, network deviceswithin a local area network, or audio content sources over a wide areanetwork such as the Internet. In one example, the audio content andother signals transmitted and received by the playback device 200 may betransmitted in the form of digital packet data containing an InternetProtocol (IP)-based source address and IP-based destination addresses.In such a case, the network interface 214 may be configured to parse thedigital packet data such that the data destined for the playback device200 is properly received and processed by the playback device 200.

As shown, the network interface 214 may include wireless interface(s)216 and wired interface(s) 218. The wireless interface(s) 216 mayprovide network interface functions for the playback device 200 towirelessly communicate with other devices (e.g., other playbackdevice(s), speaker(s), receiver(s), network device(s), control device(s)within a data network the playback device 200 is associated with) inaccordance with a communication protocol (e.g., any wireless standardincluding IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.15, 4Gmobile communication standard, and so on). The wired interface(s) 218may provide network interface functions for the playback device 200 tocommunicate over a wired connection with other devices in accordancewith a communication protocol (e.g., IEEE 802.3). While the networkinterface 214 shown in FIG. 2 includes both wireless interface(s) 216and wired interface(s) 218, the network interface 214 may in someembodiments include only wireless interface(s) or only wiredinterface(s).

In one example, the playback device 200 and one other playback devicemay be paired to play two separate audio components of audio content.For instance, playback device 200 may be configured to play a leftchannel audio component, while the other playback device may beconfigured to play a right channel audio component, thereby producing orenhancing a stereo effect of the audio content. The paired playbackdevices (also referred to as “bonded playback devices”) may further playaudio content in synchrony with other playback devices.

In another example, the playback device 200 may be sonicallyconsolidated with one or more other playback devices to form a single,consolidated playback device. A consolidated playback device may beconfigured to process and reproduce sound differently than anunconsolidated playback device or playback devices that are paired,because a consolidated playback device may have additional speakerdrivers through which audio content may be rendered. For instance, ifthe playback device 200 is a playback device designed to render lowfrequency range audio content (i.e. a subwoofer), the playback device200 may be consolidated with a playback device designed to render fullfrequency range audio content. In such a case, the full frequency rangeplayback device, when consolidated with the low frequency playbackdevice 200, may be configured to render only the mid and high frequencycomponents of audio content, while the low frequency range playbackdevice 200 renders the low frequency component of the audio content. Theconsolidated playback device may further be paired with a singleplayback device or yet another consolidated playback device.

By way of illustration, SONOS, Inc. presently offers (or has offered)for sale certain playback devices including a “PLAY:1,” “PLAY:3,”“PLAY:5,” “PLAYBAR,” “CONNECT:AMP,” “CONNECT,” and “SUB.” Any otherpast, present, and/or future playback devices may additionally oralternatively be used to implement the playback devices of exampleembodiments disclosed herein. Additionally, it is understood that aplayback device is not limited to the example illustrated in FIG. 2 orto the SONOS product offerings. For example, a playback device mayinclude a wired or wireless headphone. In another example, a playbackdevice may include or interact with a docking station for personalmobile media playback devices. In yet another example, a playback devicemay be integral to another device or component such as a television, alighting fixture, or some other device for indoor or outdoor use.

b. Example Playback Zone Configurations

Referring back to the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1 , theenvironment may have one or more playback zones, each with one or moreplayback devices. The media playback system 100 may be established withone or more playback zones, after which one or more zones may be added,or removed to arrive at the example configuration shown in FIG. 1 . Eachzone may be given a name according to a different room or space such asan office, bathroom, master bedroom, bedroom, kitchen, dining room,living room, and/or balcony. In one case, a single playback zone mayinclude multiple rooms or spaces. In another case, a single room orspace may include multiple playback zones.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the balcony, dining room, kitchen, bathroom,office, and bedroom zones each have one playback device, while theliving room and master bedroom zones each have multiple playbackdevices. In the living room zone, playback devices 104, 106, 108, and110 may be configured to play audio content in synchrony as individualplayback devices, as one or more bonded playback devices, as one or moreconsolidated playback devices, or any combination thereof. Similarly, inthe case of the master bedroom, playback devices 122 and 124 may beconfigured to play audio content in synchrony as individual playbackdevices, as a bonded playback device, or as a consolidated playbackdevice.

In one example, one or more playback zones in the environment of FIG. 1may each be playing different audio content. For instance, the user maybe grilling in the balcony zone and listening to hip hop music beingplayed by the playback device 102 while another user may be preparingfood in the kitchen zone and listening to classical music being playedby the playback device 114. In another example, a playback zone may playthe same audio content in synchrony with another playback zone. Forinstance, the user may be in the office zone where the playback device118 is playing the same rock music that is being playing by playbackdevice 102 in the balcony zone. In such a case, playback devices 102 and118 may be playing the rock music in synchrony such that the user mayseamlessly (or at least substantially seamlessly) enjoy the audiocontent that is being played out-loud while moving between differentplayback zones. Synchronization among playback zones may be achieved ina manner similar to that of synchronization among playback devices, asdescribed in previously referenced U.S. Pat. No. 8,234,395.

As suggested above, the zone configurations of the media playback system100 may be dynamically modified, and in some embodiments, the mediaplayback system 100 supports numerous configurations. For instance, if auser physically moves one or more playback devices to or from a zone,the media playback system 100 may be reconfigured to accommodate thechange(s). For instance, if the user physically moves the playbackdevice 102 from the balcony zone to the office zone, the office zone maynow include both the playback device 118 and the playback device 102.The playback device 102 may be paired or grouped with the office zoneand/or renamed if so desired via a control device such as the controldevices 126 and 128. On the other hand, if the one or more playbackdevices are moved to a particular area in the home environment that isnot already a playback zone, a new playback zone may be created for theparticular area.

Further, different playback zones of the media playback system 100 maybe dynamically combined into zone groups or split up into individualplayback zones. For instance, the dining room zone and the kitchen zone114 may be combined into a zone group for a dinner party such thatplayback devices 112 and 114 may render audio content in synchrony. Onthe other hand, the living room zone may be split into a television zoneincluding playback device 104, and a listening zone including playbackdevices 106, 108, and 110, if the user wishes to listen to music in theliving room space while another user wishes to watch television.

c. Example Control Devices

FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of an example control device 300that may be configured to be one or both of the control devices 126 and128 of the media playback system 100. Control device 300 may also bereferred to as a controller 300. As shown, the control device 300 mayinclude a processor 302, memory 304, a network interface 306, and a userinterface 308. In one example, the control device 300 may be a dedicatedcontroller for the media playback system 100. In another example, thecontrol device 300 may be a network device on which media playbacksystem controller application software may be installed, such as forexample, an iPhone™, iPad™ or any other smart phone, tablet or networkdevice (e.g., a networked computer such as a PC or Mac™)

The processor 302 may be configured to perform functions relevant tofacilitating user access, control, and configuration of the mediaplayback system 100. The memory 304 may be configured to storeinstructions executable by the processor 302 to perform those functions.The memory 304 may also be configured to store the media playback systemcontroller application software and other data associated with the mediaplayback system 100 and the user.

In one example, the network interface 306 may be based on an industrystandard (e.g., infrared, radio, wired standards including IEEE 802.3,wireless standards including IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n,802.11ac, 802.15, 4G mobile communication standard, and so on). Thenetwork interface 306 may provide a means for the control device 300 tocommunicate with other devices in the media playback system 100. In oneexample, data and information (e.g., such as a state variable) may becommunicated between control device 300 and other devices via thenetwork interface 306. For instance, playback zone and zone groupconfigurations in the media playback system 100 may be received by thecontrol device 300 from a playback device or another network device, ortransmitted by the control device 300 to another playback device ornetwork device via the network interface 306. In some cases, the othernetwork device may be another control device.

Playback device control commands such as volume control and audioplayback control may also be communicated from the control device 300 toa playback device via the network interface 306. As suggested above,changes to configurations of the media playback system 100 may also beperformed by a user using the control device 300. The configurationchanges may include adding/removing one or more playback devices to/froma zone, adding/removing one or more zones to/from a zone group, forminga bonded or consolidated player, separating one or more playback devicesfrom a bonded or consolidated player, among others. Accordingly, thecontrol device 300 may sometimes be referred to as a controller, whetherthe control device 300 is a dedicated controller or a network device onwhich media playback system controller application software isinstalled.

The user interface 308 of the control device 300 may be configured tofacilitate user access and control of the media playback system 100, byproviding a controller interface such as the controller interface 400shown in FIG. 4 . The controller interface 400 includes a playbackcontrol region 410, a playback zone region 420, a playback status region430, a playback queue region 440, and an audio content sources region450. The user interface 400 as shown is just one example of a userinterface that may be provided on a network device such as the controldevice 300 of FIG. 3 (and/or the control devices 126 and 128 of FIG. 1 )and accessed by users to control a media playback system such as themedia playback system 100. Other user interfaces of varying formats,styles, and interactive sequences may alternatively be implemented onone or more network devices to provide comparable control access to amedia playback system.

The playback control region 410 may include selectable (e.g., by way oftouch or by using a cursor) icons to cause playback devices in aselected playback zone or zone group to play or pause, fast forward,rewind, skip to next, skip to previous, enter/exit shuffle mode,enter/exit repeat mode, enter/exit cross fade mode. The playback controlregion 410 may also include selectable icons to modify equalizationsettings, and playback volume, among other possibilities.

The playback zone region 420 may include representations of playbackzones within the media playback system 100. In some embodiments, thegraphical representations of playback zones may be selectable to bringup additional selectable icons to manage or configure the playback zonesin the media playback system, such as a creation of bonded zones,creation of zone groups, separation of zone groups, and renaming of zonegroups, among other possibilities.

For example, as shown, a “group” icon may be provided within each of thegraphical representations of playback zones. The “group” icon providedwithin a graphical representation of a particular zone may be selectableto bring up options to select one or more other zones in the mediaplayback system to be grouped with the particular zone. Once grouped,playback devices in the zones that have been grouped with the particularzone will be configured to play audio content in synchrony with theplayback device(s) in the particular zone. Analogously, a “group” iconmay be provided within a graphical representation of a zone group. Inthis case, the “group” icon may be selectable to bring up options todeselect one or more zones in the zone group to be removed from the zonegroup. Other interactions and implementations for grouping andungrouping zones via a user interface such as the user interface 400 arealso possible. The representations of playback zones in the playbackzone region 420 may be dynamically updated as playback zone or zonegroup configurations are modified.

The playback status region 430 may include graphical representations ofaudio content that is presently being played, previously played, orscheduled to play next in the selected playback zone or zone group. Theselected playback zone or zone group may be visually distinguished onthe user interface, such as within the playback zone region 420 and/orthe playback status region 430. The graphical representations mayinclude track title, artist name, album name, album year, track length,and other relevant information that may be useful for the user to knowwhen controlling the media playback system via the user interface 400.

The playback queue region 440 may include graphical representations ofaudio content in a playback queue associated with the selected playbackzone or zone group. In some embodiments, each playback zone or zonegroup may be associated with a playback queue containing informationcorresponding to zero or more audio items for playback by the playbackzone or zone group. For instance, each audio item in the playback queuemay comprise a uniform resource identifier (URI), a uniform resourcelocator (URL) or some other identifier that may be used by a playbackdevice in the playback zone or zone group to find and/or retrieve theaudio item from a local audio content source or a networked audiocontent source, possibly for playback by the playback device.

In one example, a playlist may be added to a playback queue, in whichcase information corresponding to each audio item in the playlist may beadded to the playback queue. In another example, audio items in aplayback queue may be saved as a playlist. In a further example, aplayback queue may be empty, or populated but “not in use” when theplayback zone or zone group is playing continuously streaming audiocontent, such as Internet radio that may continue to play untilotherwise stopped, rather than discrete audio items that have playbackdurations. In an alternative embodiment, a playback queue can includeInternet radio and/or other streaming audio content items and be “inuse” when the playback zone or zone group is playing those items. Otherexamples are also possible.

When playback zones or zone groups are “grouped” or “ungrouped,”playback queues associated with the affected playback zones or zonegroups may be cleared or re-associated. For example, if a first playbackzone including a first playback queue is grouped with a second playbackzone including a second playback queue, the established zone group mayhave an associated playback queue that is initially empty, that containsaudio items from the first playback queue (such as if the secondplayback zone was added to the first playback zone), that contains audioitems from the second playback queue (such as if the first playback zonewas added to the second playback zone), or a combination of audio itemsfrom both the first and second playback queues. Subsequently, if theestablished zone group is ungrouped, the resulting first playback zonemay be re-associated with the previous first playback queue, or beassociated with a new playback queue that is empty or contains audioitems from the playback queue associated with the established zone groupbefore the established zone group was ungrouped. Similarly, theresulting second playback zone may be re-associated with the previoussecond playback queue, or be associated with a new playback queue thatis empty, or contains audio items from the playback queue associatedwith the established zone group before the established zone group wasungrouped. Other examples are also possible.

Referring back to the user interface 400 of FIG. 4 , the graphicalrepresentations of audio content in the playback queue region 440 mayinclude track titles, artist names, track lengths, and other relevantinformation associated with the audio content in the playback queue. Inone example, graphical representations of audio content may beselectable to bring up additional selectable icons to manage and/ormanipulate the playback queue and/or audio content represented in theplayback queue. For instance, a represented audio content may be removedfrom the playback queue, moved to a different position within theplayback queue, or selected to be played immediately, or after anycurrently playing audio content, among other possibilities. A playbackqueue associated with a playback zone or zone group may be stored in amemory on one or more playback devices in the playback zone or zonegroup, on a playback device that is not in the playback zone or zonegroup, and/or some other designated device. Playback of such a playbackqueue may involve one or more playback devices playing back media itemsof the queue, perhaps in sequential or random order.

The audio content sources region 450 may include graphicalrepresentations of selectable audio content sources from which audiocontent may be retrieved and played by the selected playback zone orzone group. Discussions pertaining to audio content sources may be foundin the following section.

d. Example Audio Content Sources

As indicated previously, one or more playback devices in a zone or zonegroup may be configured to retrieve for playback audio content (e.g.,according to a corresponding URI or URL for the audio content) from avariety of available audio content sources. In one example, audiocontent may be retrieved by a playback device directly from acorresponding audio content source (e.g., a line-in connection). Inanother example, audio content may be provided to a playback device overa network via one or more other playback devices or network devices.

Example audio content sources may include a memory of one or moreplayback devices in a media playback system such as the media playbacksystem 100 of FIG. 1 , local music libraries on one or more networkdevices (such as a control device, a network-enabled personal computer,or a networked-attached storage (NAS), for example), streaming audioservices providing audio content via the Internet (e.g., the cloud), oraudio sources connected to the media playback system via a line-in inputconnection on a playback device or network devise, among otherpossibilities.

In some embodiments, audio content sources may be regularly added orremoved from a media playback system such as the media playback system100 of FIG. 1 . In one example, an indexing of audio items may beperformed whenever one or more audio content sources are added, removedor updated. Indexing of audio items may involve scanning foridentifiable audio items in all folders/directory shared over a networkaccessible by playback devices in the media playback system, andgenerating or updating an audio content database containing metadata(e.g., title, artist, album, track length, among others) and otherassociated information, such as a URI or URL for each identifiable audioitem found. Other examples for managing and maintaining audio contentsources may also be possible.

The above discussions relating to playback devices, controller devices,playback zone configurations, and media content sources provide onlysome examples of operating environments within which functions andmethods described below may be implemented. Other operating environmentsand configurations of media playback systems, playback devices, andnetwork devices not explicitly described herein may also be applicableand suitable for implementation of the functions and methods.

e. Example Cloud Computing Functions

Various references are made herein to “cloud computing.” The term “cloudcomputing” is used to refer to services delivered using distributedcomputing over a network, such as the Internet. A non-exhaustive list ofservices delivered via the cloud include electronic mail (e.g., GMAIL®or HOTMAIL®), social networking (e.g., FACEBOOK®, LINKEDIN®, orTWITTER®), file hosting (e.g., DROPBOX®), and streaming audio (e.g.,SPOTIFY®, PANDORA®, or BEATSAUDIO®). Other cloud services are certainlyoffered as well.

Cloud service providers may offer one or more interfaces for accessingtheir service over a network. For instance, some cloud services may beaccessed by visiting a web site using a web browser. Other cloudservices are accessed by executing a particular application specific tothe cloud service on a computing device. Some cloud services may offeran application programming interface (API) to facilitate access to theservice by a third-party web site or application. Cloud services mayprovide multiple techniques for accessing their service. In many cases,a user who has access to a given cloud service can access the servicefrom any computing device that is connected to the network, providedthat the computing device has a supported interface to the cloudservice.

In one instance, accessing a cloud service may involve accessing, with afirst computing device (i.e., a client), a second computing device orsystem (i.e., a server). Example client devices may include playbackdevice 200 of FIG. 2 , or control device 300 of FIG. 3 , among otherpossible devices. One or more programs or applications (i.e.,instructions) may execute on the server to perform computing operationssupported by the cloud service. The client may send various commands tothe server to instruct the server to perform the computing taskssupported by the cloud service.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example computing system 500 that may provide acloud service to one or more users. Example computing system 500includes at least one processor 502, memory 504, and a network interface506. The memory 504 may contain instructions executable by the processor502 to perform computing tasks supported by a cloud service. Thecomputing device 500 may communicate with other computing devices viathe network interface 506.

In aggregate, the provision of a cloud service many involve multipleinstances of computing system 500. Each instance of computing system 500may provide the cloud service to one or more users. Cloud serviceproviders may scale the number of instances of computing system 500involved in providing the cloud service based on user demand.

Within examples, data-based representations of “user accounts” mayfacilitate access to a cloud service. An individual user or a group ofusers may create a data-based “user account,” which may also be referredto simply as an “account.” An account for a particular user or usergroup may include data related to the particular user or user group,which the user or user group has opted to provide for association withthe account. As such, the account of a particular user may, in a sense,be a data-based representation of that particular user.

A user may create an account for various applications, web sites, and/oronline services, for instance. Examples of accounts include e-mailaccounts, social network accounts, online financial accounts, serviceprovider accounts, among other possibilities. Further, in some cases, auser may have a single account that provides a data-based representationof the user for multiple services, websites, applications, etc. Forinstance, a user might opt to use their e-mail account or social networkaccount as a common login for various online services and applications,which might be provided by different entities. Such a data-basedrepresentation might be available to any of the instances of thecomputing systems involved in providing a service so that any of theinstances may provide similar access to the service when a particularaccount is authenticated (“logged-in”) with the service.

An account may also be used with devices and systems. For instance, auser of a device, such as a mobile phone, tablet computer, or laptopcomputer, may associate an account with the computing device itself,such that while the account is authenticated on the computing device,the account will be authenticated with applications that are provided onthe computing device. The user might also associate an account with amedia playback system, such that while the account is authenticated onthe media playback system, the media playback system operates accordingto preferences of the account. Moreover, in some cases, a user'saccounts for various services may be associated with one another. Forinstance, a user's account for a media playback system may be associatedwith the user's accounts for one or more streaming music services suchthat when a user's account for a media playback system is logged-in tothe media playback system, the media playback system has access to theone or more streaming music services that are associated with the user'saccount for the media playback system.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example cloud 600. The example cloud 600 mayinclude any number of computing devices which are interconnected via oneor more networks. For instance, cloud 600 may include one or moreinstances of computing system 500. As shown in FIG. 6 , media playbacksystems 610, 620, and 630 are connected to cloud 600. Media playbacksystem 610 includes playback devices 612 and 614 and control device 616,each having a respective connection to cloud 600. Likewise, mediaplayback system 620 includes playback devices 622 and 624 and controldevice 626, also each having a respective connection to cloud 600. Andmedia playback system 630 includes playback devices 632 and 634 andcontrol device 636, also each having a respective connection to cloud600.

Using the cloud 600, media playback systems 610, 620, and 630 mayrespectively access various cloud services. For instance, media playbacksystems 610, 620, and 630 may access one or more streaming audioservices 602. As noted above, streaming audio services may provide audiocontent to media playback systems. Several example streaming audioservices that are currently available include SPOTIFY®, PANDORA®,BEATSAUDIO®, RDIO®, GOOGLE PLAY MUSIC ALL ACCESS®, SONY MUSICUNLIMITED®, ITUNES RADIO®, XBOX MUSIC®, and TUNEIN RADIO®. Otherstreaming audio services certainly exist, and other streaming audioservices may be offered in the future.

Media playback systems 610, 620, and 630 may also respectively accessone or more social network services 604. Social network services areoften characterized at least in part by various links between users ofthe service (or perhaps between accounts of the service). Such links arereferred to by different names, such as “friends”, “connections”,“followers”, or “favorites,” among other examples. Users may create suchlinks for various reasons. For instance, in some cases, the users mayhave a relationship outside of the social network (e.g., co-workers,relatives, or college friends). In other cases, two users may havesimilar interests (e.g., fans of a particular band or genre) or belongto a certain group and then form a link in the social network becausethey share these similar interests.

A cloud service provider may provide a cloud queue service 606. Thecloud queue service 606 may maintain or have access to one or moreplayback queues (cloud queues). In some instances, the cloud queueservice 606 may maintain playback queues for media playback systemsregistered with the cloud queue service 606. Such playback queues may bereferred to as cloud queues. In other instances, the cloud queue service606 may maintain multiple cloud queues for a particular media playbacksystem, perhaps with one particular cloud queue “active” (i.e.,“selected”) at any instant. In further instances, the cloud queueservice 606 may maintain a cloud queue that multiple media playbacksystems may access. One or more computing systems may be used to providethe cloud queue service 606 and to maintain the cloud queue(s) in datastorage.

Various devices may access the cloud queue. Accessing the cloud queuemay involve any of a variety of operations with respect to the cloudqueue. For instance, some devices may access the cloud queue to modify(e.g., add, remove, or re-order) media items in a playback queuemaintained by cloud queue service 606. Such devices may include controldevices, such as control device 300, or any suitable device having anetwork interface to communicate with the cloud queue service 606. Asanother example, a media playback system, such as media playback systems610 and 620, may access the cloud queue to play back the cloud queue.

Devices of a media playback system may provide control inputs that causeaccessing of the queue. For instance, a control device of a mediaplayback system (e.g., control device 300) may provide an interface(e.g., controller interface 400) that includes various controls. Thecontrol device may detect input at such controls and responsivelyperform operations with respect to the cloud queue. Alternatively, aplayback device of a media playback system may include various controls(e.g., buttons) that are operable to generate input data that requestsvarious operations with respect to a cloud queue.

As noted above, access to a cloud queue may be controlled using varioustechniques. Some example techniques may involve controlling access to acloud queue based on the identity of the entity that is accessing thecloud queue. Other example techniques may involve controlling access toa cloud queue based on a configuration or settings of the cloud queueitself.

FIG. 7 shows example playback queue 700. Playback queue 700 includes alist of entries 702-732. Entries 702-732 contain Songs A-P in positions1-16, respectively, by having respective metadata for each songassociated with each entry. The metadata may also include an indication,such as a uniform resource identifier (URI), which indicates where eachsong is stored. For instance, for a particular song, the metadata mayinclude a uniform resource locator (URL) indicating where thatparticular song can be retrieved from a streaming audio service, such asstreaming audio service 602 depicted in FIG. 6 . Songs A-P may representany of the example audio items noted above. Although playback queue 700is shown by way of example as including 15 entries, playback queue 700may gain additional entries or have fewer entries if media items areadded (i.e., inserted) or removed (i.e., deleted) from playback queue700, respectively. Media playback systems may play back the queue 700,perhaps in a certain order, such as sequential playback by position orrandom (shuffle) playback.

Playback queue 700 may be maintained for one or more media playbacksystems by a cloud queue service, such as cloud queue service 606, andbe referred to as a “cloud queue.” For example, an instance of computingsystem 500 of FIG. 5 (which may provide cloud queue service 606) maymaintain playback queue 700 for media playback system 610. In such anexample, playback device 612 and/or playback device 616 may maintain alocal copy of playback queue 700, perhaps in a memory, such as memory206 of FIG. 2 . Alternately, playback queue 700 may be maintained onanother computing system, such as an instance of control device 300 ofFIG. 3 . Such a local copy may provide a cached instance of a cloudqueue, such that devices of the media playback system may access thelocal copy and avoid transmission delays that may be involved inaccessing the cloud queue, among other possible benefits.

The above discussions relating to playback devices, controller devices,playback zone configurations, media content sources, and cloud computingprovide only some examples of operating environments within whichfunctions and methods described below may be implemented. Otheroperating environments and configurations of media playback systems,playback devices, and network devices not explicitly described hereinmay also be applicable and suitable for implementation of the functionsand methods.

Methods 800, 900, 1000, 1200, 1300, 1500, and 1600 shown in FIGS. 8, 9,10, 12, 13, 15, and 16 , respectively, present embodiments of methodsthat can be implemented within an operating environment including, forexample, the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1 , one or more of theplayback device 200 of FIG. 2 , one or more of the control device 300 ofFIG. 3 , or one or more of the computing system 500 of FIG. 5 . Further,operations illustrated by way of example as being performed by a mediaplayback system can be performed by any suitable device, such as aplayback device or a control device of a media playback system. Methods800, 900, 1000, 1200, 1300, 1500, and 1600 may include one or moreoperations, functions, or actions as illustrated by one or more ofblocks shown in FIGS. 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, and 16 , respectively.Although the blocks are illustrated in sequential order, these blocksmay also be performed in parallel, and/or in a different order thanthose described herein. Also, the various blocks may be combined intofewer blocks, divided into additional blocks, and/or removed based uponthe desired implementation.

In addition, for the methods and other processes disclosed herein, theflowcharts show functionality and operation of one possibleimplementation of present embodiments. In this regard, each block mayrepresent a module, a segment, or a portion of program code, whichincludes one or more instructions executable by a processor forimplementing specific logical functions or steps in the process. Theprogram code may be stored on any type of computer readable medium, forexample, such as a storage device including a disk or hard drive. Thecomputer readable medium may include non-transitory computer readablemedium, for example, such as computer-readable media that stores datafor short periods of time like register memory, processor cache, andRandom Access Memory (RAM). The computer readable medium may alsoinclude non-transitory media, such as secondary or persistent long termstorage, like read only memory (ROM), optical or magnetic disks,compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM), for example. The computerreadable media may also be any other volatile or non-volatile storagesystems. The computer readable medium may be considered a computerreadable storage medium, for example, or a tangible storage device. Inaddition, for the methods and other processes disclosed herein, eachblock may represent circuitry that is wired to perform the specificlogical functions in the process.

III. Example Techniques to Access a Cloud Queue Based on anAuthorization Token

As discussed above, embodiments described herein may involve accessing acloud queue based on an authorization token. The authorization token maybe used to control access to the cloud queue based on which entity(e.g., a particular media playback system or device) is attempting toaccess the cloud queue. For instance, a device of a media playbacksystem may access a cloud queue. Accessing a cloud queue may involvedisplaying the cloud queue, playback of the cloud queue, or manipulationof the cloud queue, among other examples. FIG. 8 illustrates an examplemethod to access a queue by way of an authorization token.

a. Obtain an Authorization Token

At block 802 of method 800, the method involves obtaining anauthorization token corresponding to a queue. For instance, a mediaplayback system, such as media playback system 100 of FIG. 1 or one ofmedia playback systems 610, 620, and 630 of FIG. 6 , may obtain anauthorization token corresponding to a particular queue of media items.In some cases, a particular device of a media playback system, such as aplayback device (e.g., playback device 200 of FIG. 2 ) or a controldevice (e.g., control device 300 of FIG. 3 ) may obtain theauthorization token. The authorization may be obtained via a networkinterface over one or more networks, such as a wide area network (e.g.,the Internet).

The particular queue may be stored at a remote server (e.g., a serverinvolved in a providing a cloud queue service) and be referred to as a“cloud queue.” A “remote” server is considered to be separated fromentities that might access the queue by one or more networks, includinga wide area network. For instance, referring to FIG. 6 , media playbacksystem 610 may obtain an authorization token from a server of cloudqueue service 606 by way of one or more networks that communicativelycouple the media playback system and the remote server. In some cases, amedia playback system may obtain an authorization token corresponding toa particular queue from a remote server at which the particular queue isstored or maintained. Alternatively, a media playback may obtain anauthorization token corresponding to a particular queue from anotherremote server, perhaps a remote server that is communicatively coupledto the remote server at which the particular queue is stored ormaintained.

As noted above, the obtained authorization token may correspond to aparticular queue of media items. As such, the authorization token may beused to manage access to the particular queue. For instance, a givencloud queue service may maintain or have access to one or more cloudqueues, each containing zero or more media items. In such a case, anobtained authorization token may correspond to a particular cloud queueof the one or more cloud queues. An authorization token may be used by aremote server to manage access to the particular cloud queue.Alternatively, an obtained authorization token may correspond to aparticular group of queues. Such a group could include cloud queues thatare maintained by the cloud queue service on behalf of a particularmedia playback system or cloud queues that are maintained by the cloudqueue service on behalf of a particular user account, among otherexamples.

In some implementations, the authorization token may authorize or permitan entity to perform certain operations with respect to a particularqueue, such as accessing the particular queue. The entity may bear orprovide the authorization token when attempting to perform one of thepermitted operations, and given the authorization token's validity, beallowed to perform the operation.

An authorization token may be considered to be associated with certain“access rights” that permit different operations. In someimplementations, entities attempting to perform certain operations withrespect to the queue may be prohibited from performing that operationunless the entity has been authorized by way of the authenticationtoken. For instance, an entity that bears or provides the authorizationtoken may be permitted to perform operations that are within a certainlevel or set of access rights. Different access rights may be granted todifferent entities by way of the authorization token. For instance, afirst entity (e.g., a media playback system or device) may obtain afirst authorization token associated with first access rights, and asecond entity may obtain a second authorization token associated withsecond access rights that are different from the first access rights.

As one example, the access rights associated with a given authorizationtoken may include display rights that permit displaying the queue, andas such, an entity that has obtained the given authorization token maybe permitted to perform operations involved in display of the queue.Display of the queue may involve display of indications of media itemsassociated with the queue, perhaps by a user interface 308 of a controldevice 300 of FIG. 3 in a playback queue region 440 of a controllerinterface 400 as shown in FIG. 4 . By way of example, operationsinvolved in display of the queue may involve sending to a remote servera request for an indication of at least one media item of the queue andperhaps receiving the requested indication and displaying the at leastone indicated media item.

As another example, the access rights associated with a givenauthorization token may include queue rights that permit manipulation ofthe particular queue to which the authorization token corresponds. Forinstance, an entity that has obtained an authorization token that isassociated with queue rights may be permitted to add media items to thequeue, remove media items from the queue, or re-order media items withinthe queue, among other examples. In some embodiments, an entity (e.g., amedia playback system or a device of such a system) may send a requestto manipulate the queue to a remote entity (e.g., a server) that ismaintaining the queue.

As a further example, the access rights associated with a givenauthorization token may include playback rights that permit playback ofthe media items of the particular queue. For example, an entity that hasobtain an authorization token that is associated with queue rights maybe permitted to request an indication of media items from the queue, andthen play back those media items. As noted above, a device may maintaina local copy of a cloud queue. Playback of a cloud queue may involverequesting an indication of at least one media item from the cloudqueue, including the indicated media items in the local copy, andplaying back the media items of the local copy of the cloud queue.

In one example, a given authorization token may authenticate one or moreparticular devices of a media playback system, such as one or moreinstances of playback device 200 of FIG. 2 . Obtaining such anauthorization token may involve sending, to a remote server, a requestfor an authorization token that authenticates one or more particulardevices of a media playback system to play back media items of thequeue. After sending the request, the media playback system may receivethe requested authorization token. In some cases, two or more devicesmay be joined into a group that can perform some joint operations, suchas synchronous playback. In such cases, the obtained authorization tokenmight authenticate the two or more devices to playback media items ofthe queue in synchrony.

As noted above, in some embodiments, a media playback system might beassociated with one or more user accounts. Such an association may beformed when a user account logs into the media playback system, perhapsby way of an instance of control device 300 of FIG. 3 . In some cases,the authorization token might authenticate one or more particular useraccounts to access a cloud queue at a remote server. By authenticating auser account with an authorization token, any media playback system towhich the user account is logged-in may be authenticated to access thequeue. In such an instance, obtaining the authorization token mightinvolve a media playback system sending, to the remote server, a requestfor an authorization token that authenticates a particular account toaccess the queue at the remote server. If the particular user account isauthorized, the remote server might grant the request and send therequested authorization token. The media playback system may thenreceive the requested authorization token. In some cases, the receivedauthorization token authenticates a control device registered with theparticular account to access the queue at the remote server. The controldevice may be a device that provides a controller interface whichfacilitates access to the cloud queue, and accordingly, access to thecloud queue may be performed by way of the control device 300.

In some cases, a control device of a media playback system may obtain anauthorization token that corresponds to a particular queue, perhaps inresponse to receiving input data indicating a request to access theparticular queue. The controller may cause a graphical interface todisplay a controller interface that includes controls or other interfaceelements corresponding to the access associated with the obtainedauthorization token. For instance, if the authorization token permitsdisplaying a cloud queue, the controller might display a controllerinterface having a playback queue region that shows the cloud queue,such as an instance of playback queue region 440 shown in FIG. 4 .Further, if the authorization token does not permit playback of thecloud queue, the controller interface might not include a playbackcontrol region (e.g., playback control region 410 of FIG. 4 ) or mightindicate that the playback control region is disabled or unavailable forthe cloud queue.

After obtaining the authorization token, the control device may send theauthorization token to one or more additional devices of the mediaplayback system, and the additional devices may access the queue usingthe authorization token. In one example, a control device of a mediaplayback system may send a request for an authorization token thatauthenticates access to the queue at the remote server. Thereafter, thecontrol device may receive the requested authorization token. Thecontrol device may then send the received authorization token to one ormore playback devices of the media playback system. As noted above, anyof the entities having the authorization token may use the authorizationtoken to access the queue, as entities providing the authorization tokento the remote server may be authenticated to access the queue.

Alternatively, a playback device of a media playback system may obtainan authorization token that corresponds to a particular queue, perhapsin response to receiving a request to play back or otherwise access theparticular queue. After obtaining the authorization token, the playbackdevice may distribute the authorization token to one or more additionaldevices of the media playback system, such that the additional devicesmay access the queue using the authorization token. In one example, agiven playback device of a media playback system may send a request foran authorization token that authenticates access to the queue at theremote server. Thereafter, the given playback device may receive therequested authorization token. The control device may then send thereceived authorization token to one or more additional playback devicesof the media playback system. In one implementation, the one or moreadditional playback devices may be playback devices with which the givenplayback device is grouped. All of the playback devices having theauthorization token may access the queue, as entities providing theauthorization token to the remote server may be authenticated to accessthe queue.

Within examples, the obtained authorization token may take variousforms. For instance, the obtained authorization token may include ahypertext transfer protocol header that indicates an authorization codethat authenticates certain operations with respect to a cloud queue. Insuch cases, obtaining the authorization token may involve receiving dataindicating a hypertext transfer protocol header that indicates anauthorization code. The authorization code indicated in the header mayauthenticate access rights to queue of media items at the remote server(e.g., a cloud queue). Alternatively, a file (i.e., non-transitory data)may indicate the authorization token.

Within examples, an authorization token may grant access to a queue fora limited duration. For instance, an authorization token may grantaccess rights to a queue for the duration of a session. In such anembodiment, obtaining the authorization token may involve sending (i) anindication of a given session of the media playback system to the remoteserver and (ii) a request for an authentication token that authenticatesthe media playback system to access the queue at the remote server forthe duration of the given session. Further, obtaining the authorizationtoken may involve the media playback system receiving the requestedauthorization token that authenticates the media playback system toaccess the queue at the remote server for the duration of the givensession.

In some cases, obtaining an authorization token may involve an entitysending one or more credentials (e.g., a user name and password) to theremote server. The remote server may determine whether the credentialsauthorize the entity to obtain an authorization token, and if so, sendthe requested authorization token to the entity. In some cases, thecredential may include one or more credentials of a user account, suchas any of the user accounts noted above.

After obtaining the authorization token, a device (e.g., a playbackdevice or a control device) may store the authorization token in a datastorage, such as memory 206 of playback device 200 or memory 304 ofcontrol device 300. The device may then provide an indication of thestored authorization token to a remote server when accessing the cloudqueue corresponding to the authorization token.

b. Send Authorization Token and Request for Access to Queue

At block 804, the method involves sending the obtained authorizationtoken and a request for access to the cloud queue. For instance, themedia playback system may send to the remote server, the obtainedauthorization token, and a request for access to one or more media itemsof the particular cloud queue. The media playback system may send thetoken and request via a network interface over one or more networks,including a wide area network.

As noted above, an entity (e.g., a media playback system or a devicethereof) may bear or provide the authorization token when attempting toperform one of the permitted operations, and given the authorizationtoken's validity, be allowed to perform the operation. Providing theauthorization token may involve sending the authorization token (or anindication of the authorization token) to a remote server, which mightbe a remote server that is maintaining the cloud queue or perhaps adifferent remote server that is communicatively coupled to the remoteserver that is maintaining the cloud queue.

As noted above, in some cases, the obtained authorization token maypermit displaying the queue. In some examples, sending the request foraccess may involve sending a request for an indication of one or moremedia items for display. In some implementations, the one or more mediaitems may include all of the media items in a cloud queue. In otherimplementations, the one or more media items may include a subset of themedia items of the cloud queue. The subset might include a currentlyplaying media item, and perhaps one or more media items that areproximate to the currently playing media item within the queue.

Also as noted above, the obtained authorization token may permitplayback of the queue. In such examples, sending the request for accessmay involve sending a request for an indication of one or more mediaitems for playback.

In further examples, the obtained authorization token may permitmanipulation of the queue (e.g., adding items to the queue, removingitems from the queue, or re-ordering items within the queue). With suchan authorization token, sending the request for access may involvesending a request to manipulate the queue. A control device of a mediaplayback system might send such a request based on receiving input datathat indicates such manipulation.

c. Receive Indication that the Media Playback System May Access theQueue

At block 706, the method involves receiving an indication that the mediaplayback system may access the queue. For instance, the media playbacksystem may receive from the remote server an indication that the mediaplayback system may access the one or more media items of the particularqueue for which access was previously requested. A device of the mediaplayback system may receive the indication via a network interface overone or more networks.

Receiving an indication that the media playback system may access thequeue may involve receiving data indicating the one or more media itemsof the particular queue. As noted above, in some cases, the obtainedauthorization token may include display rights that permit displayingthe queue. In such a case, the media playback system may request anindication of one or more media items from the queue for display.Thereafter, the media playback system may receive data indicating theone or more media items of the particular queue. In some cases, themethod may further involve displaying respective indication of the oneor more media items. For instance, a control device of a media playbacksystem may cause a graphical interface to display indications of the oneor more media items. The indications may be displayed in a playbackqueue region of a controller interface, such as playback queue region440 of controller interface 400.

In other cases, receiving an indication that the media playback systemmay access the queue may involve receiving data indicating (i) the oneor more media items of the particular queue and (ii) respective sourcesof the one or more media items. As noted above, in some instances, theobtained authorization token may include queue rights that permitmanipulating the queue. Manipulation of the queue may involve adding,removing, or re-ordering media items of the queue, and may also includechanging the playback order of the queue (e.g., by way of a skip forwardor skip backward command). In such a case, the media playback system maysend a request to manipulate the queue to the remote server. Thereafter,the media playback system may receive an indication of the queue,perhaps showing the queue after the requested manipulation. Forinstance, the media playback system may send to a remote server arequest to add one or more media items to a particular queue. The remoteserver may add the one or more media items, and send to the mediaplayback system receiving data indicating (i) the one or more mediaitems of the particular queue and (ii) respective sources of the one ormore media items. In some embodiments, the media playback system may addthe indicated one or more media items to a local queue of the mediaplayback system.

In still other cases, receiving the indication that the media playbacksystem may access the one or more media items may involve the mediaplayback system receiving data indicating (i) the one or more mediaitems of the particular queue and (ii) respective sources of the one ormore media items. As noted above, in some instances, the obtainedauthorization token may include playback rights that permit playback ofmedia items of the particular queue. In such a case, the media playbacksystem may request an indication of at least one media item from thequeue for playback, perhaps in response to receiving input dataindicating a request to playback the queue. Thereafter, the mediaplayback system may receive data indicating (i) the one or more mediaitems of the particular queue and (ii) respective sources of the one ormore media items. In some instances, the media playback system mayobtain at least one of the one or more media items from the respectivesources, perhaps to playback the at least one media item.

Receiving data indicating respective sources of the one or more mediaitems may involve receiving respective identifiers that may be used toobtain the media items. For instance, as noted above, in some examples,each media item in the queue of media items is assigned a uniqueidentifier. The unique identifier may be a uniform resource identifier(URI), a uniform resource locator (URL) or some other identifier thatmay be used by a device to find and/or retrieve the audio item from alocal audio content source or a networked audio content source, possiblyfor playback by the entity.

In some cases, the method may also involve receiving an indication thatthe obtained authorization token has expired such that access to thequeue of media items at the remote server is withdrawn from the mediaplayback system. As noted above, in some cases, the authorization tokenmay grant access to a particular queue for the duration of a givensession. Accordingly, the authorization token may expire based on theoccurrence of a condition. For instance, the authorization token mayexpire after a given duration of time, after a threshold number ofaccesses have occurred, after the queue has been played back for athreshold duration of time, or after a threshold number of media itemsfrom the queue have been played back, among other examples. In somecases, the remote server may determine that the authorization token hasexpired, perhaps by detecting one of the above conditions. The remoteserver may then send an indication that the obtained authorization tokenhas expired, which may the media playback system may receive.

Under certain conditions, an authorization token may be renewed ratherthan expiring. For instance, the remote server may determine thatplayback of the particular queue has satisfied at least one conditionfor renewal, and, based on such a determination, renew the authorizationtoken. Example conditions for renewal might be that playback of theparticular queue exceeded a threshold duration or that playback of theparticular queue exceeded a threshold proportion of a given session(e.g., that a threshold number of media items have been played back). Insome cases, a media playback system may send, to the remote server, arequest to renew the received authorization token based on playback, bythe media playback system, of the media items of the queue during thegiven session. The media playback system may send playback dataindicating playback of the particular queue during the session fromwhich the remote queue may determine that playback of the particularqueue has satisfied at least one condition for renewal. Given that themedia playback system is eligible for a renewed authorization token, themedia playback system may receive a renewed authorization token, whichauthenticates the media playback system to access the queue at theremote server for a second duration of the given session, or for someother suitable duration, such as a lesser duration.

IV. Example Techniques to Control Access to a Cloud Queue Based on anAuthorization Token

As noted above, embodiments described herein may involve controllingand/or accessing a cloud queue based on an authorization token. FIG. 9illustrates an example method by which a remote server may controlaccess by various media playback systems to a cloud queue.

a. Receive Authorization Token and Request for Access to Queue

At block 902 of FIG. 9 , the method involves receiving an authorizationtoken and a request for access to a particular queue. For instance, acomputing system (e.g., a remote server) might receive, via a networkinterface, an authorization token associated with a particular mediaplayback system, and (ii) a request for access by the media playbacksystem to a queue of media items that is remote from the media playbacksystem (perhaps maintained by the computing system).

The computing server may be operated by various entities, perhapsdepending on which entity is assigned to control access to the cloudqueue. In one example, a remote server of cloud queue server 606 mayreceive the authorization token and request for access from mediaplayback system 610 over one or more networks that communicativelycouple the systems. In another example, a remote server of streamingaudio service 602 may receive the authorization token and request foraccess from media playback system 610 over one or more networks thatcommunicatively couple the systems. In another case, the server might beoperated by a cloud hosting provider on behalf of an entity that iscontrolling access to a cloud queue. The received authorization tokenmay take the form of any of the example authorization tokens providedabove, as well as any other suitable authorization token.

As noted above, an entity may provide an authorization token to acomputing system that is maintaining a cloud queue when attempting toperform an operation with respect to the queue. Given that theauthorization token indicates that the entity is authorized to performthe operation and that the authorization token is valid, the computingsystem may allow the operation to be performed, and may perform theoperation. In some cases, the entity may provide the authorization tokenand the request for access in the same message. Alternatively, theentity may provide the authorization token and the request for access inthe separate messages.

As noted above, accessing a cloud queue may involve displaying the cloudqueue, playback of the cloud queue, or manipulation of the cloud queue,among other examples. Accordingly, in some cases, receiving the requestfor access may involve receiving a request for an indication of one ormore media items for display. In other cases, receiving the request foraccess may involve receiving a request for an indication of one or moremedia items for playback. In further examples, the receivedauthorization token may permit manipulation of the queue (e.g., addingitems to the queue, removing items from the queue, or re-ordering itemswithin the queue). With such an authorization token, receiving therequest for access may involve receiving a request to manipulate thequeue.

The data correlating authorization tokens to entities and operations maybe updated based on certain conditions. For instance, the data may beupdated upon request by authorized devices (e.g., devices bearingauthorization tokens that authenticate the device to update the data).Alternatively, the data may be updated as part of a registrationprocedure. For instance, the data may be updated when new media playbacksystems or devices are registered (e.g., associated with a particularuser account). As another example, the data may be updated when newcontent sources, such as streaming audio services, are registered.

As noted above, an authorization token may grant access to a queue for alimited duration. For instance, the received authorization may grantaccess to a queue for a duration of a given session. Accordingly, insome cases, the request for access to the queue may include a requestfor access to the queue for a duration of the given session (e.g., forthe remainder of the session).

b. Determine the Access to the Queue that the Authorization TokenAuthenticates

At block 904, the method involves determining the access to the queuethat the authorization token authenticates. For instance, a computingsystem may maintain or have access to data indicating the access thateach granted authorization token provides. The computing system maydetermine the access to the queue that the received authorization tokenprovides based on such data. The data may take the form of a database.

Determining the access to the queue that the authorization tokenauthenticates involves identifying the cloud queue to which theauthorization token provides access. As noted above, each authorizationtoken may correspond to one or more particular queues. The computingsystem may maintain or have access to data linking each authorizationtoken to one or more particular queues, which the computing system mayrefer to in identifying the cloud queue(s) to which the authorizationtoken provides access.

In some embodiments, determining the access to the queue that theauthorization token authenticates involves determining one or moreoperations that the authorization token authenticates an entity toperform. Access to a cloud queue may take the form of a defined set ofoperations that can be performed with respect to a cloud queue. As notedabove, each operation may involve a request sent from an entity (such asa media playback system) to a remote server, which the remote server maycarry out given that the request is authorized. In some cases, theoperations may be defined in an application programming interface (API)or other suitable definition.

The operations may be divided into different categories based on thetype of access. For instance, operations involved in display, such asrequesting media items from a cloud queue for display, may becategorized as display operations. As another example, operationsinvolved in queue manipulation, such as adding media items to the queue,removing media items from the queue, or re-ordering media items withinthe queue, may be categorized as manipulation operations. Anothercategory of operations might be playback operations, which may includeoperations involved in playback of the queue. In some cases, suchcategories might be used in determining the access to the queue that theauthorization token authenticates. For instance, the computing systemmay determine which categories of operations that the authorizationtoken authenticates.

In some embodiments, the operations may be divided into two or moreaccess levels that are different from one another. For instance, theoperations may be divided into “full” access, which includes the fullset of operations, and partial access, which includes a subset ofoperations. As another example, each level may include certaincategories of operations. For example, a first level may include themanipulation and display categories, while another level includes theplayback and display categories. In such embodiments a givenauthorization token may authenticate an entity to perform operationswithin a given level.

As noted above, in some examples, an authorization token may have aduration of validity. For instance, an authorization token may be validfor the duration of a given session. In such cases, determining theaccess to the queue that the authorization token authenticates mayinvolve determining whether the authorization token is still valid orwhether the token has expired. Expiration of an authorization token mayresult in a withdrawal of access to the queue. For example, an expiredauthorization token might not provide any access to the queue, or mayprovide limited access as compared to when the token was valid. Forinstance, a given token may authorize playback and display operationswhile valid, and, after expiration, may authorize only displayoperations, or no operations at all.

c. Provide Access that the Authorization Token Authenticates

At block 906, the method involves providing the access that theauthorization token authenticates. Providing the access that theauthorization token indicates may involve carrying out the receivedrequest for access by the media playback system, given that theauthorization token authorizes the request. For instance, the computingsystem may provide access to media items of the queue by performingoperations involved in display, playback, or manipulation of the queue,according to the type of operation indicated in the request for access.

In some cases, the authorization token might be expired. In such cases,providing the media playback system the access that the authorizationtoken authorizes may include sending the media playback system anindication that the authorization token has expired such that access tothe queue of media items at the remote server is withdrawn or otherwiserestricted. Based on such a message, the media playback system mayrestrict certain operations with respect to the queue. For instance, acontrol device of the media playback system may cause a graphicalinterface to display an indication that access to the cloud queue iswithdrawn, and may perhaps disable certain controls that require thewithdrawn access.

In some cases, the method may further involve providing an entity (e.g.,a media playback system or device) an authorization token. The computingsystem might provide an authorization token prior to providing access tothe queue, perhaps at the beginning of a session. In one example, thecomputing system may receive a request for an authorization token thatauthenticates an entity (e.g., the entity sending the request, whichmight be a device of a media playback system) to access a particularqueue of media items (or perhaps a group of particular queues). Thecomputing system may also receive one or more credentials, such as auser name and password of an account, which might be used to determinethat the requesting entity is authorized to be provided the requestedauthorization token. Upon determining that the request is authorized,the computing system may send the requested authorization token to theentity. In other words, the computing device may send the authorizationtoken and the access requested.

In some embodiments, the computing system may receive an indication of agiven session, and a request for an authorization token thatauthenticates an entity for the duration of the given session. Thecomputing system may then send such an authorization token to theentity, perhaps based on the one or more credentials provided by theentity. The computing system may then provide the entity access to thequeue until the authorization token expires.

As noted above, in some examples, authorization tokens may be renewedafter expiration perhaps based on one or more conditions. For instance,the computing system may receive a request to renew the receivedauthorization token. The computing system may also receive playbackhistory data, which the computing system may use to determine whetherthe authorization token is renewable. For instance, the playback historydata may indicate playback history of the media items of the queueduring the given session, and based on the received playback history,the computing system may determine that playback of the media items ofthe queue during the given session exceeds a threshold for renewal ofthe authorization token. Based on such a condition, the computing systemmay send the entity a renewed authorization token that authenticates themedia playback system to access the queue at the remote server foradditional time, such as a second duration of the given session.

V. Example Techniques to Provide Access Control Levels

As noted above, embodiments described herein may involve providingvarying levels of access to a cloud queue. FIG. 10 illustrates anexample method to provide varying levels of access to two or moreentities.

a. Receive Requests for Access to a Queue

At block 1002 of method 1000, the method involves receiving one or morerequests for access to a queue of media items. For instance, a computingsystem may receive a request from a first media playback system foraccess to a queue of media items. The computing system may also receivea request from a second media playback system for access to the queue ofmedia items. The computing system may receive the requests over one ormore networks via a network interface. As one example, a remote serverof a cloud service, such as cloud queue service 606, may receiverespective requests for access to a cloud queue from media playbacksystem 610 and media playback 612.

In some embodiments, each request for access may include a request toperform one or more operations with respect to a cloud queue. Theoperations may include any of the example types of operations notedabove in connection with sending or receiving a request for access. Forinstance, the requests for access may include requests to performoperations involved in the display of the cloud queue, playback of thecloud queue, or manipulation of the cloud queue, among other examples.

In some embodiments, the request for access may include a mechanism bywhich the computing system may authenticate access to the queue. Forinstance, each request for access may include an authorization token.Alternatively, each request for access may include one or morecredentials.

b. Grant Access to Queue

At block 1004, the method involves granting access to the queue. Forexample, the computing system may grant a first type of access to thefirst media playback system and may grant a second type of access to thesecond media playback system. As noted above, access to a cloud queuemay include a defined set of operations that can be performed withrespect to a cloud queue. Granting access may involve authorizing themedia playback system to perform certain operations with respect to thequeue. As noted above, a media playback system may perform queueoperations by sending requests for such operations via a networkinterface to a computing system that maintains or has access to thecloud queue that the media playback system is attempting to access.

Each type of access may provide a different level of access. Forinstance, the second type of access may provide “full” access, which mayinclude authorization to perform the full set of operations with respectto the cloud queue. The first type of access may then provide partialaccess, which may include authorization to perform a subset of theoperations. Alternatively, the first type of access and the second typeof access may authorize an entity to perform a first subset ofoperations and a second subset of operations, respectively. The firstand second subset of operations may include some of the same operations,but be different from one another in that the respective sets do notinclude all of the same operations.

As noted above, the operations may be divided into different categories.For instance, operations involved in display, such as requesting mediaitems from a cloud queue for display, may be categorized as displayoperations. As another example, operations involved in queuemanipulation, such as adding media items to the queue, removing mediaitems from the queue, or re-ordering media items within the queue, maybe categorized as manipulation operations. Another category ofoperations might be playback operations, which may include operationsinvolved in playback of the queue. In some cases, each type of accessmay include authorization to perform certain categories of operations.For example, the second type of access may be authorized to performoperations in the manipulation and display categories, while the firsttype of access may be authorized to perform operations in the playbackand display categories.

In some cases, the types of access may be differentiated by theirrespective authorization (or lack thereof) to control which media itemin the cloud queue is currently playing and/or whether the media item inthe cloud queue is playing or paused. A media playback system mightcontrol which media item in the cloud queue is currently playing bysending requests that correspond to various transport controls. Forinstance, a media playback system may send to the remote server arequest to play, pause, skip to the next media item in the queue, skipto the previous media item in the queue, jump to a particular media item(or position) in the queue, among other examples. In some embodiments, amedia playback granted the second type of access may be authorized toperform the full set of transport functions, while a media playbacksystem granted the first type of access may be authorized to perform asubset of transport functions. For instance, the first type of accessmay authorize play and pause, but perhaps not transport functions thatchange the currently playing media item (e.g., skip or jump).

In some cases, a “playhead” indicator may indicate the currently playingmedia item of the queue, perhaps by reference to a particular positionin the queue. For instance, referring back to FIG. 7 , song E might bethe currently playing media item, and the playhead indicator mayindicate song E by reference to position 5. The computing system maymaintain or have access to data indicating the playhead. Playback of thequeue may occur at the media item indicated by the playhead. Operationsthat affect the currently playing media item might change the positionindicated by the playhead, which may in turn affect which media item iscurrently playing back.

As noted above, a media playback system may play back a cloud queue,perhaps by way of one or more playback devices. Further, two or moremedia playback systems may play back a cloud queue in synchrony, suchthat the media playback systems provide a joint listening experience. Insome examples, the second type of access might include authorization tocontrol which media item in the cloud queue is currently playing.Accordingly, a media playback system that is granted the second type ofaccess may request to change the currently playing media item of thecloud queue, and thereby change the currently playing media item forother media playback systems that are currently playing back the cloudqueue.

Accordingly, a media playback system that is authorized to change thecurrently playing media item of the cloud queue may be referred to as a“DJ” media playback system. Media playback systems that are granted thefirst type of access might not be authorized to change the currentlyplaying media item, and, accordingly, may be referred to as “listeners.”In some playback modes, the DJ media playback system may control whichmedia items of the cloud queue are played back, by controlling whichmedia item is currently playing. Media playback systems that are“listeners” may “follow” the playback order set by the DJ media playbacksystem.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example environment 1100 that includes a remoteserver 1102 that includes a cloud queue 1112. Remote server 1102 isconnected to media playback system 1104, media playback system 1106, andmedia playback system 1108 by one or more networks 1110, which mayinclude one or more wide area networks, such as the Internet, as well asone or more local area networks. In one example, remote server 1102 maygrant media playback system 1104 a second type of access. In thisexample, the second type of access may permit media playback system 1104to change the currently playing media item of the cloud queue 1112(i.e., to “DJ”) and perhaps also manipulate the queue by inserting,removing, or re-ordering items.

Remote server 1102 may grant a first type of access to media playbacksystems 1106 and 1108. The first type of access may permit playback ofcloud queue 1112, perhaps as directed by media playback system 1102 (the“DJ”). For example, media playback system 1104 may set the current mediaitem of queue 1112 to Song C in position 3, as shown, perhaps bychanging or setting the position of a playhead. Media playback system1106 and/or media playback system 1108 may access queue 1112 accordingto the first type of access. As noted above, this may involve playingback queue 1112 as directed by media playback system 1104. Changes madeto queue 1112 or to the currently playing media item by media playbacksystem 1104 may propagate via remote server 1102 to media playbacksystems 1106 and 1108. For instance, media playback system 1104 may senda request to change a playhead from a first position in queue 1112 to asecond position in queue 1112 (e.g., to skip forward to the next mediaitem in the queue). The remote server 1102 may receive the request,determine that the access granted to media playback system 1104authorizes the system to perform the requested action and then carry outthe request. Remote server 1102 may cause respective playback devices ofmedia playback systems 1106 and 1108 to playback a media itemcorresponding to the second position, perhaps by sending an indicationof the new currently playing media item to media playback systems 1106and 1108.

The method may further involve determining whether the requesting entityis authorized to access the queue. For instance, the computing systemmay determine whether a received authorization token or credentialauthorizes an entity to be granted the access requested by the entity.The computing system may grant access (or might not grant access) basedon such a determination.

The method may further involve determining which media playback systemis granted which type of access. As noted above, in some cases, thesecond type of access may authorize more operations with respect to thequeue (e.g., access to the full set of operations that can be performed)than the first type of access. Alternatively, the second type of accessmay authorize operations that involve a greater amount of control withrespect to the queue than the first type of access (e.g., authorizationto perform manipulation operations, as compared to playback and/ordisplay operations). Accordingly, some embodiments may limit which mediaplayback system(s) are granted such access.

In some embodiments, each type of access might be limited to a limitednumber of media playback systems. For instance, the second type ofaccess may be limited to one media playback system. In such a case, whenreceiving a request to grant a media playback system a particular typeof access, the computing system may determine whether granting that typeof access to the media playback system would exceed a threshold numberof media playback systems. If so, the computing system may deny therequest to grant the particular type of access to the media playbacksystem, and perhaps send an indication of the denial to the requestingmedia playback system.

In some cases, the computing system may cycle the types of access amongthe media playback systems that are accessing a particular cloud queue.Under such an example, each media playback system might be granted thesecond type of access for a limited duration of time, and be granted thesecond type of access at other times. For instance, referring back tothe DJ example of FIG. 11 , media playback systems 1104, 1106, and 1108may alternate acting as the DJ every thirty minutes (or some othersuitable duration). In operation, the computing system might detect thata first media playback system has been granted a second type of accessfor a threshold duration of time, and based on such a detection, grant asecond media playback system the second type of access and grant thefirst media playback system the first type of access.

In some cases, the type of access granted to each media playback systemmay be based on a user account that is associated with the respectivemedia playback system. In such an embodiment, any media playback systemto which the user account is logged-in (or otherwise associated) mightbe granted the access that is granted to the user account. A particularuser account may be associated with multiple media playback systems,such that the multiple media playback systems may have the accessgranted to the user account.

In some embodiments, the computing system may grant media playbacksystems (or user accounts) that are accessing a particular cloud queuefor the first time a particular type of access. For instance, upon thefirst instance of granting an entity access to a particular cloud queue,the computing system may grant the entity the second type of access(e.g., full access) for a limited duration (e.g., a limited duration ofabsolute time, or a limited duration of playback time). For example, inoperations, the computing system might receive a request from a thirdmedia playback system for access to the queue, determine that therequest is a first instance of a request from the third media playbacksystem, and based on such a determination, grant the third mediaplayback system the second type of access (e.g., full access).

Within examples, some types of access may permit an entity to requestthat another entity be granted a particular type of access. For example,a media playback system having the second type of access might beauthorized to grant another media playback system (perhaps having thefirst type of access) the second type of access. In operation, thecomputing system might receive a request from the second media playbacksystem to grant a particular type of access to a particular mediaplayback system, determine that the type of access granted to the secondmedia playback system authorizes the second media playback system togrant the particular type of access, and based on such a determination,grant the second type of access to the particular media playback system.

In some cases, the type of access granted to an entity may be based onwhich entity created the cloud queue. For instance, a device associatedwith a particular user account may send a request to establish a cloudqueue to the computing system. The computing system may carry out therequest by establishing the cloud queue, and grant the user account thesecond type of access on the basis of having established the cloudqueue. Other user accounts that access the cloud queue may be grantedthe second type of access. The types of access granted to each entitymay change, perhaps based on certain conditions, as noted above.

c. Provide Indication of Access

At block 1006, the method involves providing an indication of access.The computing system may provide an indication that a first mediaplayback system may access the queue as authorized by the first type ofaccess, and may provide an indication that a second media playbacksystem may access the queue as authorized by a second type of access.

In some cases, the computing system may indicate that a media playbacksystem may access the queue as authorized by a particular type of accessby sending a message indicating that the media playback system has beengranted the particular type of access. For instance, the computingsystem may send respective messages over one or more networks to eachmedia playback system. After receiving the messages, the computingsystems may send requests to access the queue according to the accessthat they have been granted.

In other cases, the computing system may indicate that a media playbacksystem may access the queue as authorized by a particular type of accessby sending an indication of a request that the computing system carriedout at request of the media playback system. For instance, the computingsystem may receive, from a first media playback system, a request toplayback the queue, determine that the first type of access granted tothe first media playback system authorizes the first media playbacksystem to playback the queue; and send, to the first media playbacksystem, data indicating one or more media items of the queue. In somecases, the computing system may also send data indicating respectivesources of the one or more media items from which the one or more mediaitems are playable by the first media playback system.

VI. Example Techniques to Access a Queue According to Access ControlLevels

As noted above, embodiments described herein may involve providingvarying levels of access to a cloud queue. FIG. 12 illustrates anexample method to access a cloud queue using one or more varying levelsof access.

a. Send Request for Access to Queue

At block 1202 of method 1200, the method involves sending a request foraccess to a queue of media items. A device of a media playback system(e.g., a control device or a playback device) may request to access acloud queue of media items. For instance, the device may send a requestto playback, display, or manipulate media items of the queue to acomputing system that maintains or has access to a cloud queue. Manyexamples of access to a queue are provided herein, and other examplesare possible as well. For instance, the request for access may includean authorization token.

b. Receive Indication of Access to Queue

At block 1204, the method involves receiving an indication of access tothe queue. For instance, the device may receive an indication that themedia playback system (or the device) may access the queue as authorizedby a particular type of access (e.g., based on a user account, aparticular device or type of device, or an authorization token, amongother examples). As noted above, multiple types of access to a cloudqueue are possible. Each type of access may permit a different set ofoperations with respect to the queue. In some cases, the device mayreceive a message indicating that the media playback system has beengranted the particular type of access. Alternatively, the device mayreceive an indication of a request that the computing system carried outon behalf of the media playback system. Other examples are possible aswell.

c. Receive Indication of Media Items of Queue

At block 1206, the method involves receiving an indication of one ormore media items of the queue. For instance, a device may request anindication of one or more media items for display or playback, andreceive the requested indication. Alternatively the device may request amodification to the queue, and receive an indication of the media itemswithin the queue after the modification.

As noted above, in some cases, access to a queue may involve playback ofa queue. Further, in some cases, a media playback system may playback acloud queue based on a playhead that indicates a current media items ofthe queue. During playback, a device (e.g., a playback device) mayreceive one or more indications of respective positions of a playheadand initiate playback of the queue in synchrony with the playhead. Asnoted above, multiple media playback systems may respectively play backthe queue in synchrony with the playhead, so as to facilitate a jointlistening experience among the media playback systems.

VII. Example Techniques to Control Access to a Queue According to CloudQueue Settings

As noted above, embodiments described herein may involve controllingaccess to a cloud queue based on various settings or properties of thecloud queue. An example computing system may maintain or have access tomultiple cloud queues, each with respective properties that controlaccess by devices to the respective cloud queue. FIG. 13 illustrates anexample method that involves a cloud queue having two or more accessstatuses, with each access status indicating a different set of queueoperations that are permitted to be performed with respect to the queue.

a. Receive Request to Establish Queue

At block 1302 of method 1300, the method involves receiving a request toestablish a queue of media items. For example, a computing system mayreceive, from a media playback system, a request to establish a cloudqueue of media items. The computing system may establish the cloud queueat the computing system itself, or may cause the cloud queue to beestablished at another computing system to which the computing system iscommunicatively coupled.

The established cloud queue may contain zero or more media items. Insome cases, the computing system may receive an indication of one ormore media items to insert into the established cloud queue.Alternatively, the cloud queue may be configured to include one or moremedia items, but not yet include any media items.

The established cloud queue may be identified by a unique identifier,such as a uniform resource identifier, to distinguish the establishedcloud queue from other cloud queues that the computing system maymaintain or have access to. Operations performed with respect to thecloud queue may refer to the cloud queue by reference to the uniqueidentifier.

FIG. 14A illustrates an example environment 1400 that includes a remoteserver 1402 and a media playback system 1404 that are connected by oneor more networks 1410. To establish a cloud queue, media playback system1404 may send, via a network interface over the one or more networks1410, a request to establish a cloud queue at remote server 1402. Uponreceiving the request, remote server 1402 may establish cloud queue1412.

After cloud queue 1412 is established, media playback systems may accesscloud queue 1412. Computing devices, such as playback devices andcontrol devices of a media playback system, as well as possibly othercomputing devices, may access the cloud queue by way of variousoperations. Many examples of operations that may be performed withrespect to a cloud queue are disclosed herein, and other examples arepossible as well. The media playback systems that may access the cloudqueue may include those media playback systems that have been grantedaccess. As noted above, media playback system 1102 may be granted accessbecause media playback system 1102 established cloud queue 1412.Accessing the queue may involve establishing a local queue 1414 that issynchronized with all or part of the cloud queue 1412.

FIG. 14B further illustrates the example environment 1400. In additionto media playback system 1402, environment 1400 includes by way ofexample media playback systems 1406 and 1408 that are accessing cloudqueue 1412, and likewise have established respective local queues 1416and 1418 that mirror cloud queue 1412. As noted above, media playbacksystems 1406 and 1408 may access the cloud queue 1412 to play back themedia items of the cloud queue 1412 in synchrony, among other possiblefeatures.

b. Assign First Access Status to the Queue

At block 1304, the method involves assigning a first access status tothe queue. For instance, the computing system may assign a first accessstatus to a cloud queue. An access status may indicate a set of queueoperations that certain entities are permitted to perform with respectto a queue.

In some cases, the first access status might be an initial access statusthat is generally assigned to newly established cloud queues.Alternatively, the access status might include an access statusrequested for the newly established cloud queue. Referring back to FIG.14A, remote server 1402 may assign a first access status to cloud queue1412.

A computing system may control access to a cloud queue by way of thecurrently assigned access status of the cloud queue. For instance, afirst access status may indicate that at least one media playback systemis authorized to perform a first set of queue operations with respect tothe queue. In other words, entities that are authorized to access acloud queue (perhaps by way of a credential or authorization token) maybe authorized to perform a first set of queue operations with respect tothe queue, given that the queue is assigned the first access status.

A cloud queue may have a finite set of possible access statuses. In someexamples, the set of access statuses' may include a first access statusand a second access status. The first access status and the secondaccess status may respectively indicate that media playback systems areauthorized to perform a first set of operations and a second set ofoperations. While the first set of operations and the second set ofoperations may include some of the same operations, the sets aredifferent from one another in that they do not include the same set ofoperations.

In some cases, the first set of queue operations might include playbackof the cloud queue (and the second set of operations might not includeplayback). In operation, a media playback system may initiate playbackof the cloud queue. For instance, media playback system 1404 of FIG. 14may initiate playback of cloud queue 1412 on one or more playbackdevices of media playback system 1402. Remote server 1402 may receive,from media playback system 1404, a request for an indication of one ormore media items from queue 1412 for playback. Such a request may beused to synchronize local queue 1414 with cloud queue 1412. Remoteserver 1402 may determine that the queue is assigned the first accessstatus such that media playback systems are authorized to play backcloud queue 1412, and, based on such a determination, send an indicationof the one or more media items from the queue to media playback system1404 and may also send an indication of respective sources from whichmedia playback system 1104 can retrieve the one or more media items.

In some cases, the first set of queue operations might includemodification of the queue (and the second set of operations might notinclude modification). Media playback system 1404 of FIG. 14 may requestto modify cloud queue 1412 on one or more playback devices of mediaplayback system 1402 by sending a request to remote server 1402. Forinstance, remote server 1402 may receive a request to modify cloud queue1412 by inserting one or more additional media items into the queue.Remote server 1402 may determine that the queue is assigned the firstaccess status such that media playback systems are authorized to modifythe queue, and based on the determination, modify the queue according tothe request and send an indication of the one or more additional mediaitems to media playback system 1404 (and perhaps also media playbacksystems 1406 and 1408).

In some embodiments, a cloud queue may have a finite “lifespan.” Thecloud queue may expire upon certain conditions. In such an embodiment,the first access status may be assigned to a cloud queue during itslifespan and the second access status may be assigned to a cloud queuethat has reached “end-of-life” or expired.

c. Detect a Trigger

At block 1306, the method involves detecting a trigger that indicates achange in access status of the queue. For instance, remote server 1402of FIG. 14B may detect a trigger that indicates a change in accessstatus of cloud queue 1412. As noted above, in some embodiments, a cloudqueue may have a finite “lifespan” and the trigger may indicate the“end-of-life” of the cloud queue. In various embodiments, the triggermay correspond to different conditions.

In some embodiments, the trigger may occur based on a threshold durationof time. For instance, the trigger may occur based on a thresholdduration of time elapsing from a certain reference event. Referenceevents may include the establishment of the queue, or perhaps the lastinstance on which the queue was played back. In such an example,detecting the trigger may involve determining that a threshold durationof time has elapsed since the reference event occurred (e.g., since thequeue was established). Alternatively, a cloud queue may be limited to aparticular duration of playback time before reaching end-of-life. Forexample, detecting the trigger may involve determining that the durationof time that the queue has been played back exceeds a thresholdduration. In this example, the reference event may include an initiationof playback of the queue.

The trigger may be based on other conditions related to the extent ofaccess to the queue. For example, detecting the trigger may involvedetermining that one or more media playback systems have played back themedia items of the queue on more than a threshold number of occasions.Within examples, each media item may be limited to a certain thresholdnumber of plays, or the media items of the queue may be limited to acombined threshold (e.g., 500 plays). Alternatively, detecting thetrigger may involve determining that a threshold number of mediaplayback systems have accessed the queue, or perhaps that the queue hasbeen accessed on a threshold number of occasions.

In some cases, the trigger may correspond to licensing restrictions ofthe media items within the cloud queue. The computing system may receivedata that indicates respective licensing restrictions for each of themedia items within the queue, and identify the trigger based on suchdata. For instance, media items from a particular label may berestricted to five plays per week. To comply with such a restriction,the computing system may change the access status of the queue afterreaching such a threshold.

d. Modify the Access Status of the Queue to Second Access Status

At block 1308, the method involves modifying the access status of thequeue from the first access status to a second access status. Forinstance, a computing system may modify the access status based ondetecting the trigger that indicates the change in access status (e.g.,upon detecting the trigger). As noted above, the second access statusindicates that media playback systems are authorized to perform a secondset of queue operations. The second set of operations may include feweroperations, or include operations that involve a lesser extent ofaccess.

For example, the second set of operations might include playback of thequeue, but might not include modification of the queue (which might beincluded within the first set of operations). Referring back to FIG.14B, remote server 1402 may change the access status of cloud queue 1412from a first access status to a second access status. Thereafter, remoteserver 1402 may receive a request from media playback system 1404 tomodify cloud queue 1412 (such as by including one or more additionalmedia items in the queue, deleting items from the queue, or re-orderingitems within the queue). Remote server 1402 may determine that the cloudqueue 1412 is assigned the second access status such that media playbacksystems are unauthorized to modify the queue, and, rather than modifyingcloud queue 1412, send to media playback system 1404 an indication thatmedia playback systems are not authorized to modify the queue.

As another example, the second set of operations might include playbackof a subset of the queue. For instance, some of the media items of thequeue might be limited by licensing or other restrictions, while otheritems might not be restricted. To illustrate, remote server 1402 mayreceive, from media playback system 1406, a request for an indication ofone or more media items from cloud queue 1412 for playback. Remoteserver 1402 may determine that cloud queue 1412 is assigned the secondaccess status such that media playback systems are authorized toplayback a subset of the queue. Remote server 1402 may identify mediaitems that are included in the subset, and send an indication of theidentified media items to media playback system 1406.

Other combinations of operations are possible as well. As a furtherexample, the second set of operations might include display of the queue(and might not include playback or modification of the queue), such thatthe queue is only available for viewing. As noted above, a controldevice of a media playback system may cause a graphical interface todisplay an indication of a cloud queue, which might include anindication of the media items of the cloud queue, and perhaps theordering of the media items as well. Such display may be authorizedunder some access status but not others. As another example, the secondset of operations might exclude playback.

e. Send Indication of Second Access Status

At block 1310, the method involves sending an indication of the secondaccess status to a media playback system. For instance, referring backto FIG. 14B, remote server 1402 may send an indication of the secondaccess status of cloud queue 1412 to media playback system 1404 (andperhaps also media playback systems 1404 and 1408). Upon receiving theindication of the second access status, access to cloud queue 1412 maybe limited to the second set of operations.

In some cases, receiving the indication of the second access status maycause deletion (i.e., removal) of the local copies of the cloud queues.For instance, remote server 1402 may send an indication of the secondaccess status of cloud queue 1412 to media playback systems 1404, 1406,and 1408, which may cause deletion of local queues 1414, 1416, and 1418.More particularly, the indication may include instructions that causethe local queue removal.

In some cases, the indication of the second access status may be basedon a requested operation. For instance, upon receiving a request toperform an operation, the computing system may determine whether theassigned access status of the queue indicates that such an operation isauthorized, and responsively permit or deny the request to perform theoperation. In permitting the request, the computing system may carry outthe requested operation and send an indication of the operation to therequesting media playback system. In denying the request, the computingsystem may send an indication that such an operation is not authorized,or perhaps that the queue is assigned a particular status under whichthe operation is not permitted.

In some embodiments, the access status of a queue may be modified fromthe second access status back to the first access status. For example, acloud queue that has expired may be revived, perhaps under certainconditions. If the access status of a queue can be modified, the mediaplayback systems may receive an indication that the access status may bemodified. Such media playback systems may request to modify the accessstatus, perhaps based on detecting input data that requests access tothe queue. Upon receiving such a request, the media playback system maydetermine whether such a request is authorized, perhaps based on thelicensing data noted above, and modify the access status, given thatsuch an operation is authorized.

VIII. Example Techniques to Control Access to a Local Queue According toCloud Queue Settings

As noted above, embodiments described herein may involve controllingaccess to a cloud queue based on various settings or properties of thecloud queue. FIG. 15 illustrates an example method 1500 that involves acloud queue that has two or more access statuses, with each accessstatus indicating a different set of queue operations that are permittedto be performed with respect to the local queue that is associated withthe cloud queue. The local queue may be a local instance (or copy) of acloud queue.

a. Receive Indication of Queue and First Access Status of Queue

At block 1502 of method 1500, the method involves receiving anindication of a queue of media items, and an indication that the queuehas a first access status. For instance, referring to FIG. 14B, a deviceof media playback system 1404 (e.g., an instance of a playback device200 or a control device 300) may receive an indication of cloud queue1412, and an indication that cloud queue 1412 has a first access status.As noted above, the first access status may indicate that the playbackdevice is authorized to perform a first set of queue operations, such asthe operations noted above.

b. Establish Local Queue

At block 1504, the method involves establishing a local queue. Forinstance, a playback device of media playback system 1404 may establishlocal queue 1414, which may be a local instance of cloud queue 1412 thatincludes the media items indicated in cloud queue 1412. In some cases,the local instance may include a subset of media items from cloud queue1412. The subset might include a sequence of one or more media itemsthat includes a media item that is designated as the currently playingmedia item, perhaps by way of a playhead.

c. Receive Indication of Second Access Status of Queue

At block 1506, the method involves receiving an indication that thequeue has been assigned a second access status. For instance, theplayback device of media playback system 1404 may receive an indicationthat cloud queue 1402 has been assigned a second access status. As notedabove, the second access status may indicate that the playback device ofthe media playback system 1404 is authorized to perform a second set ofoperations. The second access status may indicate that the queue hasexpired (i.e., reached end-of-life) and accordingly is available onlyfor a limited set of operations compared to the operations availableduring its lifetime.

d. Restrict Local Queue to Second Set of Queue Operations

At block 1508, the method involves restricting the local queue to thesecond set of operations. For instance, the playback device of mediaplayback system 1404 may restrict local queue 1414 to the second set ofoperations. In operation, the playback device may receive requests toperform operations with respect to the local queue and/or the cloudqueue, perhaps from a control device. Upon receiving a request, theplayback device may determine whether the requested operations is withinthe second set of operations, and carry out the operation given that theoperation is authorized.

The playback device may also send an indication of the second accessstatus to other devices of the media playback system 1404, such as oneor more additional playback devices and perhaps one or more controldevices. This may distribute the status of the cloud queue among devicesof the media playback system 1404. In some cases, the media playbacksystem 1404 may delete local queue 1414. For instance, each device ofthe media playback system may delete data related to the cloud queue,perhaps based on receiving the indication of the second access status.

As noted above, after the local queue is restricted, the media playbacksystem 1404 may perform the second set of operations. The second set ofoperations may be a limited set of operations as compared to the firstset of operations. For instance, playback of the queue may be limited toa subset of media items, or to display of the queue, among otherexamples.

IV. Example Techniques to Display Cloud Queue Settings

FIG. 16 shows an example method 1600 that involves display of cloudqueue access settings.

a. Display Indication of Cloud Queue

At block 1602 of method 1600, a control device of a media playbacksystem may display a controller interface, such as controller interface400 of FIG. 4 . The controller interface may include an indication ofone or more cloud queues that the media playback system is currentlyaccessing or has accessed. For instance, the controller interface maydisplay a cloud queue that the media playback system is currentlyaccessing (i.e., an “active” queue) in a playback queue region, such asthe playback queue region 440 of FIG. 4 . In some cases, the controllerinterface may include an indication of other cloud queues and/or localqueues that the media playback system has established or accessed. Theinterface may also include controls for playback and/or modification ofthe cloud queue.

b. Receive Indication of Queue Access Status

At block 1604, the method involves receiving an indication of the accessstatus of the queue. For instance, the control device may receive anindication of the access status of the cloud queue from a playbackdevice of the media playback system, or perhaps from a remote serverthat maintains or has access to the cloud queue. The control device mayperiodically receive an indication of the access status, or may receivean indication of the access status upon the access status changing.

In some embodiments, receiving the access status may involve receivingan indication of the “lifetime” remaining until a trigger event occursthat changes the access status. As noted above, a remote server maymodify the access status of a cloud queue based on a trigger. Further,the trigger may relate to various thresholds that relate to the extentof queue access that has occurred. During the lifetime of the queue, thecontroller device may receive one or more indications of the amount oflifetime left before the trigger threshold is reached. For instance, thecontrol device may receive an indication of the amount of time remaininguntil a threshold duration of time has elapsed. As another example, thecontrol device may receive an indication of the number of plays that areremaining before a threshold number of plays are reached. Other examplesare possible as well.

c. Display Indication of Queue Access Status

At block 1606, the method involves causing a graphical interface todisplay an indication of the access status of a cloud queue. In someembodiments, a controller interface may include an indication of theaccess status (e.g., whether a cloud queue has a first access status ora second access status). For instance, the controller interface mayindicate that the cloud queue is limited by a lifetime, or that thecloud queue has expired (e.g., reached end-of-life). Upon a queuereaching end-of-life, the controller interface may indicate that thecloud queue is limited to certain operations (i.e., the second set ofoperations). The control device may display controls of the controllerinterface that are operable to perform operations that are not withinthe second set of operations. The controller interface may changevisually to indicate that certain controls or items are unavailable,such as by changing the color or appearance of the unavailable items.

As noted above, a remote server may modify the access status of a cloudqueue based on a trigger. Further, the trigger may relate to variousthresholds that relate to the extent of queue access that has occurred.During the lifetime of the queue, the controller interface may includean indication of the amount of lifetime left before the triggerthreshold is reached. For instance, the controller interface may includean indication of the amount of time remaining until a threshold durationof time has elapsed. As another example, the controller interface mayshow a progress bar or other indicator that shows how many plays areremaining before a threshold number of plays are reached. Other exampleindications to show the remaining lifetime of the queue are possible aswell.

V. Conclusion

The description above discloses, among other things, various examplesystems, methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture including,among other components, firmware and/or software executed on hardware.It is understood that such examples are merely illustrative and shouldnot be considered as limiting. For example, it is contemplated that anyor all of the firmware, hardware, and/or software aspects or componentscan be embodied exclusively in hardware, exclusively in software,exclusively in firmware, or in any combination of hardware, software,and/or firmware. Accordingly, the examples provided are not the onlyway(s) to implement such systems, methods, apparatus, and/or articles ofmanufacture.

As indicated above, example techniques may involve controlling access toa cloud queue based on an authorization token. In one aspect, a methodis provided. The method may involve obtaining an authorization tokencorresponding to a particular queue of media items at a remote server.The method may also involve sending (i) the obtained authorizationtoken, and (ii) a request for access to one or more media items of theparticular queue. The method may further involve receiving an indicationthat the media playback system may access the one or more media items.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include obtaining anauthorization token corresponding to a particular queue of media itemsat a remote server. The functions may also include sending (i) theobtained authorization token, and (ii) a request for access to one ormore media items of the particular queue. The functions may furtherinclude receiving an indication that the media playback system mayaccess the one or more media items.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include obtaining anauthorization token corresponding to a particular queue of media itemsat a remote server. The functions may also include sending (i) theobtained authorization token, and (ii) a request for access to one ormore media items of the particular queue. The functions may furtherinclude receiving an indication that the media playback system mayaccess the one or more media items.

In yet another aspect, another method is provided. The method mayinvolve receiving (i) an authorization token associated with aparticular media playback system, and (ii) a request for access by themedia playback system to a queue of media items. The method may alsoinvolve determining the access to the queue that the authorization tokenauthenticates to the media playback system. The method may furtherinvolve providing, the media playback system the access to the mediaitems that the authorization token authenticates to the media playbacksystem.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include receiving (i) anauthorization token associated with a particular media playback system,and (ii) a request for access by the media playback system to a queue ofmedia items. The functions may also include determining the access tothe queue that the authorization token authenticates to the mediaplayback system. The functions may further include providing, the mediaplayback system the access to the media items that the authorizationtoken authenticates to the media playback system.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include receiving (i) anauthorization token associated with a particular media playback system,and (ii) a request for access by the media playback system to a queue ofmedia items. The functions may also include determining the access tothe queue that the authorization token authenticates to the mediaplayback system. The functions may further include providing, the mediaplayback system the access to the media items that the authorizationtoken authenticates to the media playback system.

Also as indicated above, example techniques may involve grantingentities respective types of access. In one aspect, a method isprovided. The method may involve receiving (i) a request from a firstmedia playback system for access to a queue of media items, and (ii) arequest from a second media playback system for access to the queue ofmedia items. The method may also involve granting (i) a first type ofaccess to the first media playback system, and (ii) a second type ofaccess to the second media playback system. The first type of access mayauthorize the first media playback system to perform a first set ofoperations on the queue of media items and a second type of access mayauthorize the second media playback system to perform a second set ofoperations on the queue of media items that is different from the firstset of operations. The method may further involve providing (i) anindication that the first media playback system may access the queue asauthorized by the first type of access, and (ii) an indication that thesecond media playback system may access the queue as authorized by thesecond type of access.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include receiving (i) respectiverequests from a plurality of first media playback systems for respectiveaccess to a queue of media items, and (ii) a request from a second mediaplayback system for access to the queue of media items. The functionsmay also include granting (i) a first type of access to the first mediaplayback systems and (ii) a second type of access to the second mediaplayback system. The first type of access may authorize the first mediaplayback system to perform a first set of operations on the queue ofmedia items and a second type of access may authorize the second mediaplayback system to perform a second set of operations on the queue ofmedia items that is different from the first set of operations. Thefunctions may further include providing (i) the first media playbacksystems access to the queue as authorized by the first type of accessrights, and (ii) the second media playback system access to the queue asauthorized by the second type of access rights.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include receiving (i)respective requests from a plurality of first media playback systems forrespective access to a queue of media items, and (ii) a request from asecond media playback system for access to the queue of media items. Thefunctions may also include granting (i) a first type of access to thefirst media playback systems and (ii) a second type of access to thesecond media playback system. The first type of access may authorize thefirst media playback system to perform a first set of operations on thequeue of media items and a second type of access may authorize thesecond media playback system to perform a second set of operations onthe queue of media items that is different from the first set ofoperations. The functions may further include providing (i) the firstmedia playback systems access to the queue as authorized by the firsttype of access rights, and (ii) the second media playback system accessto the queue as authorized by the second type of access rights.

In yet another aspect, another method is provided. The method mayinvolve sending a request for access to a queue of media items. Themethod may also involve receiving an indication that the media playbacksystem may access the queue as authorized by a first type of access. Thefirst type of access may authorize the first media playback system toperform a first set of operations on the queue of media items and asecond type of access may authorize the second media playback system toperform a second set of operations on the queue of media items that isdifferent from the first set of operations. The method may furtherinvolve receiving an indication of one or more media items of the queue.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include sending a request foraccess to a queue of media items. The functions may also includereceiving an indication that the media playback system may access thequeue as authorized by a first type of access. The first type of accessmay authorize the first media playback system to perform a first set ofoperations on the queue of media items and a second type of access mayauthorize the second media playback system to perform a second set ofoperations on the queue of media items that is different from the firstset of operations. The functions may further include receiving anindication of one or more media items of the queue.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include sending a requestfor access to a queue of media items. The functions may also includereceiving an indication that the media playback system may access thequeue as authorized by a first type of access. The first type of accessmay authorize the first media playback system to perform a first set ofoperations on the queue of media items and a second type of access mayauthorize the second media playback system to perform a second set ofoperations on the queue of media items that is different from the firstset of operations. The functions may further include receiving anindication of one or more media items of the queue.

As further indicated above, example techniques may involve controllingaccess to a cloud queue based on a configuration or settings of thecloud queue itself. In one aspect, a method is provided. The method mayinvolve receiving a request to establish a queue of media items. Themethod may also involve assigning a first access status to the queue.The first access status may indicate that at least one media playbacksystem is authorized to perform a first set of queue operations. Afterassigning the first access status to the queue, the method may involvedetecting a trigger that indicates a change in access status of thequeue. Based on the detected trigger, the method may involve modifyingthe access status of the queue from the first access status to a secondaccess status. The second access status may indicate that the at leastone media playback system is authorized to perform a second set of queueoperations that is different from the first set of queue operations. Themethod may also involve sending an indication of the second accessstatus to a media playback system.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include receiving a request toestablish a queue of media items. The functions may also includeassigning a first access status to the queue. The first access statusmay indicate that at least one media playback system is authorized toperform a first set of queue operations. After assigning the firstaccess status to the queue, the functions may include detecting atrigger that indicates a change in access status of the queue. Thefunctions may include modifying the access status of the queue from thefirst access status to a second access status based on the detectedtrigger. The second access status may indicate that the at least onemedia playback system is authorized to perform a second set of queueoperations that is different from the first set of queue operations. Thefunctions may also include sending an indication of the second accessstatus to a media playback system.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include receiving arequest to establish a queue of media items. The functions may alsoinclude assigning a first access status to the queue. The first accessstatus may indicate that at least one media playback system isauthorized to perform a first set of queue operations. After assigningthe first access status to the queue, the functions may includedetecting a trigger that indicates a change in access status of thequeue. The functions may include modifying the access status of thequeue from the first access status to a second access status based onthe detected trigger. The second access status may indicate that the atleast one media playback system is authorized to perform a second set ofqueue operations that is different from the first set of queueoperations. The functions may also include sending an indication of thesecond access status to a media playback system.

In yet another aspect, another method is provided. The method mayinvolve receiving (i) an indication of a queue of media items, and (ii)an indication that the queue has a first access status. The first accessstatus may indicate that the playback device is authorized to perform afirst set of queue operations. The method may also involve establishinga local instance of the queue. The method may further involve receivingan indication that the queue has been assigned a second access status.The second access status may indicate that the playback device isauthorized to perform a second set of queue operations that is differentfrom the first set of queue operations. The method may involverestricting the local instance of the queue to the second set of queueoperations.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include receiving (i) anindication of a queue of media items, and (ii) an indication that thequeue has a first access status. The first access status may indicatethat the playback device is authorized to perform a first set of queueoperations. The functions may also include establishing a local instanceof the queue. The functions may further include receiving an indicationthat the queue has been assigned a second access status. The secondaccess status may indicate that the playback device is authorized toperform a second set of queue operations that is different from thefirst set of queue operations. The functions may include restricting thelocal instance of the queue to the second set of queue operations.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include receiving (i) anindication of a queue of media items, and (ii) an indication that thequeue has a first access status. The first access status may indicatethat the playback device is authorized to perform a first set of queueoperations. The functions may also include establishing a local instanceof the queue. The functions may further include receiving an indicationthat the queue has been assigned a second access status. The secondaccess status may indicate that the playback device is authorized toperform a second set of queue operations that is different from thefirst set of queue operations. The functions may include restricting thelocal instance of the queue to the second set of queue operations.

In another aspect, a method is provided. The method may involvedisplaying an indication of a queue on a graphical interface. The methodmay further involve receiving an indication of an access status of thequeue. The method may also involve displaying an indication of theaccess status of the queue.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include displaying an indicationof a queue on a graphical interface. The functions may further includereceiving an indication of an access status of the queue. The functionsmay also include displaying an indication of the access status of thequeue.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include displaying anindication of a queue on a graphical interface. The functions mayfurther include receiving an indication of an access status of thequeue. The functions may also include displaying an indication of theaccess status of the queue.

The specification is presented largely in terms of illustrativeenvironments, systems, procedures, steps, logic blocks, processing, andother symbolic representations that directly or indirectly resemble theoperations of data processing devices coupled to networks. These processdescriptions and representations are typically used by those skilled inthe art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to othersskilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth to provide athorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it isunderstood to those skilled in the art that certain embodiments of thepresent disclosure can be practiced without certain, specific details.In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, andcircuitry have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring aspects of the embodiments. Accordingly, the scope of thepresent disclosure is defined by the appended claims rather than theforgoing description of embodiments.

When any of the appended claims are read to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the elements in at leastone example is hereby expressly defined to include a tangible,non-transitory medium such as a memory, DVD, CD, Blu-ray, and so on,storing the software and/or firmware.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A tangible, non-transitory,computer-readable media having stored thereon instructions that, whenexecuted by one or more processors, cause one or more servers of a cloudcomputing system to perform functions comprising: receiving, via anetwork interface of the cloud computing system from one or more controldevices comprising one or more first control devices and one or moresecond control devices, data representing one or more commands to queueparticular media items in a cloud queue associated with a plurality ofmedia playback systems, wherein the plurality of media playback systemscomprises a first media playback system comprising at least one firstplayback device and a second media playback system comprising at leastone second playback device; based on receiving the data representing oneor more commands, adding the particular media items to the cloud queue,wherein the cloud queue is maintained in data storage of the cloudcomputing system, and wherein the particular media items in the cloudqueue comprise respective uniform resource identifiers indicatingsources of the particular media items at one or more remote servers ofat least one streaming audio service; sending, via the network interfaceto the plurality of media playback systems, first data representinginstructions to queue a first window of media items from the cloud queuein respective local queues of each media playback system of theplurality of media playback systems, wherein the respective local queuesare maintained in data storage on the at least one first playback deviceof the first media playback system and the at least one second playbackdevice of the second media playback system, wherein the respective localqueues include a subset of audio tracks from the cloud queue when thecloud queue includes audio tracks in addition to the first window,wherein the first data indicates a first uniform resource identifierrepresenting a source of a first media item in the first window, andwherein the at least one first playback device of the first mediaplayback system and the at least one second playback device areconfigured to initiate streaming of a first media item in the firstwindow from the source of the first media item at the one or more remoteservers of the at least one streaming audio service after the firstwindow is added to the respective local queues; when the particularmedia items are added to the cloud queue, causing, via the networkinterface, (i) the one or more first control devices of the first mediaplayback system to update respective first graphical representations ofthe cloud queue in respective first control applications on the one ormore first control devices, wherein the first graphical representationsof the cloud queue comprise a listing of each media item in the cloudqueue and (ii) the one or more second control devices of the secondmedia playback system to update respective graphical representations ofthe cloud queue in respective second control applications on the one ormore second control devices, wherein the one or more first controldevices are connected via one or more first networks to the at least onefirst playback device, wherein the second graphical representations ofthe cloud queue comprise a listing of each media item in the cloud queueand wherein the one or more second control devices are connected via oneor more second networks to the at least one second playback device; andwhile the at least one first playback device and the at least one secondplayback device are playing back the cloud queue via the respectivelocal queues, sending, via the network interface to the plurality ofmedia playback system, second data representing instructions to queue asecond window of media items from the cloud queue in the respectivelocal queues to continue playback of the cloud queue, wherein the seconddata indicates a second uniform resource identifier representing asource of a second media item in the second window, and wherein the atleast one first playback device and the at least one second playbackdevice are configured to initiate streaming of the second media item inthe second window from the source of the second media item at the one ormore remote servers of the at least one streaming audio service afterthe second window is added to the respective local queues.
 2. Thetangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, whereinthe functions further comprise: determining that a user accountassociated with the plurality of media playback systems is granted afirst type of access to a media playback system cloud service, whereinthe first type of access permits a first set of media playback systemoperations, and wherein a second type of access permits a second set ofmedia playback system operations.
 3. The tangible, non-transitory,computer-readable media of claim 2, wherein the functions furthercomprise: receiving, via the network interface of the cloud computingsystem, data representing one or more commands to add one or moreadditional audio tracks to the cloud queue; determining that adding theone or more additional audio tracks to the cloud queue is prohibitedwith the first type of access, wherein the second type of access permitsadding the one or more additional audio tracks to the cloud queue; andbased on determining that adding the one or more additional audio tracksto the cloud queue is prohibited with the first type of access,foregoing adding the one or more additional audio tracks to the cloudqueue.
 4. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim3, wherein the one or more additional audio tracks are associated with aparticular playlist of the media playback system cloud service, andwherein the first type of access excludes queueing the particularplaylist in the cloud queue.
 5. The tangible, non-transitory,computer-readable media of claim 3, wherein the one or more additionalaudio tracks are associated with a particular streaming audio service,and wherein the first type of access excludes streaming audio tracksfrom the particular streaming audio service.
 6. The tangible,non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 2, wherein thefunctions further comprise: receiving, via the network interface of thecloud computing system, data representing one or more commands to add anadditional media playback system to the plurality of media playbacksystems; determining that adding the additional media playback system tothe plurality of media playback systems would exceed a first thresholdnumber of media playback systems associated with the first type ofaccess, wherein the second type of access permits a second thresholdnumber of media playback systems, the second threshold number greaterthan the first threshold number; and based on determining that addingthe additional media playback system to the plurality of media playbacksystems would exceed the first threshold number of media playbacksystems associated with a first type of access, foregoing adding theadditional media playback system to the plurality of media playbacksystems.
 7. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media ofclaim 2, wherein the one or more first control devices comprise a mobiledevice, and wherein determining that the user account associated withthe plurality of media playback systems is granted the first type ofaccess to the media playback system cloud service comprises: receiving,from a control application on the mobile device, data representing anauthorization token; and determining that the authorization token isassociated with the first type of access.
 8. The tangible,non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 2, wherein the one ormore first control devices comprise a mobile device, and wherein thefunctions further comprise: causing a control application on the mobiledevice to display a control interface comprising (i) a graphicalrepresentation of the cloud queue and (ii) graphical representations ofthe media playback systems in the plurality of media playback systems.9. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 8,wherein the functions further comprise: causing the control applicationon the mobile device to display a graphical indication of the first typeof access on the control interface concurrently with the graphicalrepresentation of the cloud queue and (ii) graphical representations ofthe media playback systems in the plurality of media playback systems.10. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 2,wherein the functions further comprise: modifying access by the useraccount associated with the plurality of media playback systems from thefirst type of access to the second type of access.
 11. A cloud computingsystem comprising one or more servers, wherein the one or more serverscomprise at least one processor and at least one non-transitorycomputer-readable medium including program instructions that areexecutable by the at least one processor such that one or more serversare configured to: receive, via a network interface of the cloudcomputing system from one or more control devices comprising one or morefirst control devices and one or more second control devices, datarepresenting one or more commands to queue particular media items in acloud queue associated with a plurality of media playback systems,wherein the plurality of media playback systems comprises a first mediaplayback system comprising at least one first playback device and asecond media playback system comprising at least one second playbackdevice; based on receipt of the data representing one or more commands,add the one or more particular media items to the cloud queue, whereinthe cloud queue is maintained in data storage of the cloud computingsystem, and wherein the particular media items in the cloud queuecomprise respective uniform resource identifiers indicating sources ofthe particular media items at one or more remote servers of at least onestreaming audio service; send, via the network interface to theplurality of media playback systems, first data representinginstructions to queue a first window of media items from the cloud queuein respective local queues of each media playback system of theplurality of media playback systems, wherein the respective local queuesare maintained in data storage on the at least one first playback deviceof the first media playback system and the at least one second playbackdevice of the second media playback system, and wherein the respectivelocal queues include a subset of audio tracks from the cloud queue whenthe cloud queue includes audio tracks in addition to the first window,wherein the first data indicates a first uniform resource identifierrepresenting a source of a first media item in the first window, andwherein the at least one first playback device and the at least onesecond playback device are configured to initiate streaming of a firstmedia item in the first window from the source of the first media itemat the one or more remote servers of the at least one streaming audioservice after the first window is added to the respective local queues;when the particular media items are added to the cloud queue, cause, viathe network interface, (i) the one or more first control devices of thefirst media playback system to update respective first graphicalrepresentations of the cloud queue in respective first controlapplications on the one or more first control devices, wherein the firstgraphical representations of the cloud queue comprise a listing of eachmedia item in the cloud queue and (ii) the one or more second controldevices of the second media playback system to update respectivegraphical representations of the cloud queue in respective secondcontrol applications on the one or more second control devices, whereinthe one or more first control devices are connected via one or morefirst networks to the at least one first playback device, wherein thesecond graphical representations of the cloud queue comprise a listingof each media item in the cloud queue and wherein the one or more secondcontrol devices are connected via one or more second networks to the atleast one second playback device; and while the at least one firstplayback device and the at least one second playback device are playingback the cloud queue via the respective local queues, send, via thenetwork interface to the plurality of media playback system, second datarepresenting instructions to queue a second window of media items fromthe cloud queue in the respective local queues to continue playback ofthe cloud queue, wherein the second data indicates a second uniformresource identifier representing a source of a second media item in thesecond window, and wherein the at least one first playback device of thefirst media playback system and the at least one second playback deviceare configured to initiate streaming of the second media item in thesecond window from the source of the second media item at the one ormore remote servers of the at least one streaming audio service afterthe second window is added to the respective local queues.
 12. The cloudcomputing system of claim 11, wherein the program instructions areexecutable by the at least one processor such that the cloud computingsystem is further configured to: determine that a user accountassociated with the plurality of media playback systems is granted afirst type of access to a media playback system cloud service, whereinthe first type of access permits a first set of media playback systemoperations, and wherein a second type of access permits a second set ofmedia playback system operations.
 13. The cloud computing system ofclaim 12, wherein the program instructions are executable by the atleast one processor such that the cloud computing system is furtherconfigured to: receive, via the network interface of the cloud computingsystem, data representing one or more commands to add one or moreadditional audio tracks to the cloud queue; determine that adding theone or more additional audio tracks to the cloud queue is prohibitedwith the first type of access, wherein the second type of access permitsadding the one or more additional audio tracks to the cloud queue; andbased on the determination that adding the one or more additional audiotracks to the cloud queue is prohibited with the first type of access,forego adding the one or more additional audio tracks to the cloudqueue.
 14. The cloud computing system of claim 13, wherein the one ormore additional audio tracks are associated with a particular playlistof the media playback system cloud service, and wherein the first typeof access excludes queueing the particular playlist in the cloud queue.15. The cloud computing system of claim 13, wherein the one or moreadditional audio tracks are associated with a particular streaming audioservice, and wherein the first type of access excludes streaming audiotracks from the particular streaming audio service.
 16. The cloudcomputing system of claim 12, wherein the program instructions areexecutable by the at least one processor such that the cloud computingsystem is further configured to: receive, via the network interface ofthe cloud computing system, data representing one or more commands toadd an additional media playback system to the plurality of mediaplayback systems; determine that adding the additional media playbacksystem to the plurality of media playback systems would exceed a firstthreshold number of media playback systems associated with the firsttype of access, wherein the second type of access permits a secondthreshold number of media playback systems, the second threshold numbergreater than the first threshold number; and based on the determinationthat adding the additional media playback system to the plurality ofmedia playback systems would exceed the first threshold number of mediaplayback systems associated with a first type of access, forego addingthe additional media playback system to the plurality of media playbacksystems.
 17. The cloud computing system of claim 12, wherein the one ormore first control devices comprise a mobile device, and wherein theprogram instructions that are executable by the at least one processorsuch that the cloud computing system is configured to determine that theuser account associated with the plurality of media playback systems isgranted the first type of access to the media playback system cloudservice comprise program instructions that are executable by the atleast one processor such that the cloud computing system is configuredto: receive, from a control application on the mobile device, datarepresenting an authorization token; and determine that theauthorization token is associated with the first type of access.
 18. Thecloud computing system of claim 12, wherein the one or more firstcontrol devices comprise a mobile device, wherein the programinstructions are executable by the at least one processor such that thecloud computing system is further configured to: cause a controlapplication on the mobile device to display a control interfacecomprising (i) a graphical representation of the cloud queue and (ii)graphical representations of the media playback systems in the pluralityof media playback systems.
 19. The cloud computing system of claim 18,wherein the program instructions are executable by the at least oneprocessor such that the cloud computing system is further configured to:cause the control application on the mobile device to display agraphical indication of the first type of access on the controlinterface concurrently with the graphical representation of the cloudqueue and (ii) graphical representations of the media playback systemsin the plurality of media playback systems.
 20. The cloud computingsystem of claim 12, wherein the program instructions are executable bythe at least one processor such that the cloud computing system isfurther configured to: modify access by the user account associated withthe plurality of media playback systems from the first type of access tothe second type of access.